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LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


Kmnunns 


Mtlltam  Kallmann 


Sfpriittfii  from  ttj? 


Nortljmpatpm  ^nbltHlilng  l^ausp  Print 

SAilmanket 

19ia 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
President  Washington  5 

President  Jackson  21 

President  Lincoln  28 

President  Garfield  44 

President  Harrison  49 

President  McKinley  54 

Robert  E.  Lee  -- 58 

Stonewall  Jackson  61 

Henry  Clay  66 

Samuel  Morse 68 

Cyrus  Field  72 

Elisha  Kent  Kane  75 

William  Cullen  Bryant  77 

Washington  Irving  79 

Daniel  Webster  81 


Maaljtttgtnn  at  Haling  iForge 

Ah  Bttn  unh  htstribth  bg  Jaaar  l^atta 

Martif,  177B. 

"(Central  MaBt|ington'a  i^atae  was  Utb  to  a  sapling 
in  a  tlfitkrt.    JUlie  (Beunal  luaa  on  tjis  kners  praging  mnst 

fftUftttlg." 

3From  ttjp  bronjp  bg  S.  t.  iCpUg.  on  tlje  ^b-<ilrpaa«rn. 
aHall  ^rppt.  Nm  ^ork  (Cite 


)|>re$ident  UDashington. 

George  Washington  was  born  February 
22,  1732,  and  baptized  April  16;  likely  by 
the  Rev.  Lawrence  De  Butts,  pastor  of 
Washington  parish.  Paulding  tells  us  his 
Christian  mother  read  daily  to  her  house- 
hold the  "Contemplations"  of  Sir  Matthew 
Hale,  the  illustrious  and  Christian  judge  of 
the  corrupt  court  of  Charles  11,  which  con- 
tain a  long  and  minute  series  of  Medita- 
tions on  the  Lord's  Prayer.  No  doubt  this 
family  worship  went  far  to  form  the  char- 
acter of  the  young  George. 

As  far  back  as  1624  it  is  recorded  that 
the  young  were  catechised  from  Lent  to  far 
into  the  summer.  Being  the  son  of  a  ves- 
tryman, George  no  doubt  was  taught  the 
Christian  religion  by  the  pastor  of  Truro 
parish,  the  Rev.   Charles   Green. 

When  Washington  was  a  lad  of  thirteen, 
he  wrote  in  a  blank  book  a  list  of  maxims 
for  the  guidance  of  young  people.  Here 
are  some  of  them:  "Speak  not  injurious 
words,  neither  in  jest  nor  in  earnest.  Be 
not  hasty  to  believe  flying  reports  to  the 
disparagement  of  any.  Be  not  apt  to  relate 
news  if  you  know  not  the  truth  thereof.  Be 
careful  to  keep  your  promise.  Speak  not 
evil  of  the  absent.  When  you  speak  of 
God,  or  His  attributes,  let  it  be  seriously  in 
reverence.  Honor  and  obey  your  natural 
parents,  although  they  be  poor.  Let  your 
recreations  be  manful,  not  sinful.     Labor  to 


keep  alive  in  your  breast  that  little  spark  of 
celestial   fire,   called   conscience." 

In  the  same  year  he  wrote  a  poem  in 
honor  of  Christmas  Day. 

At  fifteen  he  was  sponsor  for  a  child  in 
Holy  Baptism. 

In  that  year  his  brother  obtained  for 
George  a  midshipman's  warrant  in  the  Brit- 
ish navy.  His  kit  was  already  on  board 
when  a  messenger  brought  his  mother's 
final  word  that  he  was  not  to  go.  Though 
he  had  set  his  heart  on  going  to  sea,  George 
obeyed  his  mother  and  went  back  to  school 
and  mathematics,  which  he  did  not  like. 
His  mother  gave  him  a  good  pen-knife,  say- 
ing: "Always  obey  j^our  superiors."  "God 
will  not  let  your  filial  affection  go  unre- 
warded." 

He  learned  surveying,  and  in  1748,  when 
sixteen,  surveyed  the  vast  estate  of  unex- 
plored lands  at  the  base  of  the  Alleghenies 
belonging  to  Lord  Fairfax,  whose  frequent 
companion  he  was.  So  well  did  he  do  this 
work  among  the  hostile  Indians,  that  Lord 
Fairfax  procured  him  the  ofiice  of  public 
surveyor,  which  he  held  for  three  years. 

George  Washington  was  sullied  with  none 
of  the  vices  then  so  common  with  the  sons 
of  planters;  his  morals  were  irreproachable; 
his  habits,  temperate;  his  sentiments,  lofty; 
his  health,  perfect;  his  manners,  easy  and 
dignified;  he  loved  society,  but  was  no  bril- 
liant talker;  he  was  a  fine  athlete;  he  loved 
fox-hunting;  he  was  the  best  horseman  in 
America;  the  British  officers  said  they  had 
never  seen  so  heroic  a  figure  as  Washington 
on  horseback. 


In  1754,  when  Washington  was  twenty- 
two  years  old,  in  an  election  contest  in  the 
market-place  of  Alexandria,  Colonel  Wm. 
Payne,  little  as  he  was,  with  a  stick  knocked 
down  Colonel  Washington,  big  as  he  was. 
Washington  was  in  the  wrong,  with  his 
fiery  temper  he  had  used  insulting  language. 
He  was  Christian  enough  to  apologize  the 
next  day  to  his  doughty  little  assailant; 
later  he  introduced  him  to  his  wife,  men- 
tioning the  fact  of  their  encounter,  and  al- 
ways remaining  a  warm  friend. 

During  the  Indian  and  French  War  Fair- 
fax wrote  to  Washington  at  the  Great 
Meadows,  "I  will  not  doubt  your  having 
public  prayers  in  camp,  especially  when  the 
Indian  families  are  your  guests,  that  they, 
seeing  your  plain  manner  of  worship,  may 
have  their  curiosity  excited  to  be  informed 
why  we  do  not  use  the  ceremonies  of  the 
French,  which  being  well  explained  to  their 
understanding,  will  more  and  more  dispose 
them  to  receive  our  baptism,  and  unite  in 
strict  bonds  of  cordial  friendship."  This 
letter  speaks  volumes  for  the  Christian 
character  of  young  George  Washington — it 
takes  for  granted  that  he  prays  publicly  and 
is  a  missionary!  "During  the  French  War, 
when  the  government  of  Virginia  neglected 
to  provide  chaplains  for  the  army,  he  re- 
monstrated against  such  impropriety,  and 
urged  his  request  till  they  were  appointed." 
To  Governor  Dinwiddle  he  wrote,  "Com- 
mon decency,  sir,  in  a  camp,  calls  for  the 
services  of  a  divine,  which  ought  not  to  be 
dispensed  with,  although  the  world  should 
be  so  uncharitable  as  to  think  us  void  of  re- 


ligion  and  incapable  of  good  instruction." 
Colonel  B.  Temple  says,  "Frequently,  on 
the  Sabbath,  he  has  known  Colonel  Wash- 
ington to  perform  divine  service  with  his 
regiment,  reading  the  Scriptures  and  pray- 
ing with  them."  The  chaplain  being 
wounded,  Washington  himself  read  the 
burial  service  by  the  light  of  a  torch  at  the 
burial  of  General  Braddock.  At  this  pe- 
riod Washington  writes,  "I  have,  both  by 
threats  and  persuasive  means,  endeavored 
to  discountenance  gaming,  drinking,  swear- 
ing, and  irregularities  of  every  other  kind." 
As  a  planter  Washington  shipped  goods 
to  the  West  India  Islands,  but  the  custom 
house  officers  never  cared  to  inspect  any 
packages  marked  "George  Washington,  Mt. 
Vernon."  They  knew  that  every  article  was 
just  what  it  was  declared  to  be  by  the  ship- 
per. 

In  the  midst  of  his  many  pressing  duties, 
Washington  often  visited  his  mother  at 
Fredericksburg  and  provided  for  her  wants. 
In  his  letters  he  always  addressed  her  as 
"Honored  Madam,"  and  signed  himself, 
"Your  most  dutiful  son."  He  attended  his 
half-brother  Lawrence  to  the  end,  in  1752, 
when  Lawrence's  own  brother  Augustine 
would  but  seldom  visit  the  consumptive. 
At  the  death  of  the  daughter  of  his  half- 
brother  Lawrence,  he  fell  heir  to  the  Mount 
Vernon  estate.  In  1759  he  married  his  "dear 
Patsey,"  the  widow  Martha  Custis,  who 
owned  vast  tracts  of  land  in  Kent  County 
and  £45,000,  and  he  was  perhaps  the  wealth- 
iest man  in  all  the  colonies. 

He  was  for  twenty-two  years  vestryman 


in  the  two  parishes  of  Truro  and  Fairfax, 
and  was  quite  active  in  church  affairs.  When 
the  merits  of  two  sites  for  the  Pohick 
church  were  warmly  discussed,  Washington 
himself  went  to  the  trouble  of  measuring 
the  distance  from  each  proposed  site  to  the 
house  of  each  parishioner  to  find  out  which 
was  the  nearer  place  for  all,  and  then  laid 
the  matter  before  the  vestry;  needless  to 
say  that  on  the  basis  of  these  statistics  the 
spot  favored  by  Washington  was  chosen. 
He  drew  the  plans  for  the  new  church  in 
Truro  and  subscribed  to  the  building.  Sparks 
quotes  President  Madison  to  the  effect  that 
"there  was  a  tradition,  that  when  he  (Wash- 
ington) belonged  to  the  vestry  of  a  church 
in  his  neighborhood,  and  several  little  difH- 
culties  grew  out  of  some  division  of  the 
society,  he  sometimes  spoke  with  great 
force,  animation,  and  eloquence  on  the  top- 
ics that  came  before  them."  In  the  elec- 
tions of  1765  Washington  stood  third  in 
popularity  in  the  Truro  church,  and  fifth 
in  that  of  Fairfax. 

The  Rev.  Lee  Massey,  rector  at  Pohick 
(Truro)  church  before  the  Revolution,  said, 
"I  never  knew  so  constant  an  attendant  in 
church  as  Washington.  And  his  behavior 
in  the  house  of  God  was  ever  so  deeply 
reverential  that  it  produced  the  happiest 
effect  on  my  congregation,  and  greatly  as- 
sisted me  in  my  pulpit  labors.  No  company 
ever  withheld  him  from  church.  I  have 
often  been  at  Mount  Vernon  on  Sabbath 
morning,  when  his  breakfast  table  was  filled 
with  guests;  but  to  him  they  furnished  no 
pretext  for  neglecting  his   God  and  losing 


the  satisfaction  of  setting  a  good  example. 
For  instead  of  staying  at  home,  out  of  false 
complaisance  to  them,  he  used  constantly 
to  invite  them  to  accompany  him."  And 
this,  although  he  had  seven  miles  to  Pohick 
church  and  ten  miles  to  Fairfax.  Once 
when  Mrs.  Washington  was  not  well  and 
confined  to  the  house,  he  would  have  at- 
tended church  nevertheless,  had  not  some- 
thing else  kept  him  home,  as  we  may  see 
from  his  diary  of  January  6,  1760.  On  Sun- 
day evenings  he  read  to  his  wife  a  sermon 
or  a  portion  of  the  Bible.  He  visited  his 
negroes  ill  of  the  smallpox.  In  1773  he 
bought  a  pew  in  Christ  Church  in  Alexan- 
dria, paying  £36.10,  the  largest  price  paid 
by  any  parishioner.  To  this  church  he  was 
quite  liberal,  subscribing  several  times  to- 
wards repairs,  etc. 

Washington  asked  a  blessing  at  his  own 
table,  in  a  standing  posture;  if  a  clergyman 
was  present,  he  was  asked  to  pray.  Once 
he  forgot  to  ask  a  visitng  clergyman  to  say 
grace,  and  when  reminded  of  it  afterwards 
he  said,  "Well,  at  any  rate  he  will  know 
that  we  are  not  graceless  in  this  house." 

Parson  Green,  first  rector  of  Truro  par- 
ish, had  his  corner  at  the  fireside  of  Mount 
Vernon,  and  the  Rev.  Lee  Massey,  of  Po- 
hick church,  was  a  friend  of  the  family,  as 
was  the  Rev.  Charles  Kemp,  and  the  Rev. 
Bryan,  Lord  Fairfax;  and  to  Parson  Weems 
Mrs.  Washington  always  gave  a  double 
spoonful  of  egg  sauce  when  it  fell  to  her  to 
carve  the  chickens. 

When  the  port  of  Boston  was  closed  by 
act   of   Parliament,   the   Virginia   House   of 

10 


Congress  set  apart  June  1  as  a  day  of  fast- 
ing and  prayer,  and  the  entry  in  Washing- 
ton's journal  reads,  "June  1  went  to  church, 
and  fasted  all  day."  When  he  went  to  Phil- 
adelphia as  a  member  of  the  first  Congress, 
he  went  to  church  every  Sunday,  as  we  may 
see  from  his  journal.  At  this  time  a  stran- 
ger asked  how  he  might  know  Washington. 
Secretary  Thompson  replied,  "You  can  eas- 
ily distinguish  him  when  Congress  goes  to 
prayer:  Washington  is  the  gentleman  who 
kneels  down."  When  Bishop  White  made 
the  first  prayer  in  Congress,  Washington 
was  the  only  one  observed  to  kneel. 

One  of  his  orders  as  General  was,  "The 
General  requires  and  expects  of  all  officers 
and  soldiers,  not  engaged  in  actual  duty,  a 
punctual  attendance  on  divine  service,  to 
implore  the  blessings  of  heaven  upon  the 
means  used  for  our  safety  and  defense." 
On  July  9,  1775,  he  says,  "The  General 
hopes  and  trusts,  that  every  officer  and  man 
will  endeavor  to  live  and  act  as  becomes  a 
Christian  soldier."  On  February  26,  1776: 
"All  officers,  non-commissioned  officers,  and 
soldiers,  are  positively  forbid  playing  at 
cards  and  other  games  of  chance.  At  this 
time  of  public  distress,  men  may  find  enough 
to  do  in  the  service  of  their  God  and  their 
country,  without  abandoning  themselves  to 
vice  and  immorality."  On  August  3,  1776: 
"That  the  troops  may  have  an  opportunity 
of  attending  public  worship  .  .  .  the  Gen- 
eral in  future  excuses  them  from  fatigue 
duty  on  Sunday."  On  May  29,  1777:  "Let 
vice  and  Immorality  of  every  kind  be  dis- 
couraged as  much  as  possible  in  your  bri- 
ll 


gade;  and,  as  a  chaplain  is  allowed  to  each 
regiment,  see  that  the  men  regularly  attend 
divine  worship.  Gaming  of  every  kind  is 
expressly  forbidden."  On  December  17, 
1777:  "The  General  directs  .  .  .  that  the 
chaplains  perform  divine  service  .  .  .  and 
earnestly  exhorts  all  officers  and  soldiers 
whose  absence  is  not  indispensably  neces- 
sary, to  attend  with  reverence  the  solemni- 
ties of  the  day." 

In  the  General  Orders  for  May  2,  1778: 
"While  we  are  Zealously  performing  the 
duties  of  Citizens  and  Soldiers,  we  certainly 
ought  not  to  be  inattentive  to  the  higher 
duties  of  Religion.  To  the  distinguished 
Character  of  Patriot,  it  Should  be  our  high- 
est Glory,  to  add  the  more  distinguish'd 
Character  of  Christian." 

At  Litchfield,  Conn.,  some  soldiers  threw 
stones  at  a  church,  and  Washington  re- 
buked them:  "I  am  a  churchman,  and  wish 
not  to  see  the  Church  dishonored  and  deso- 
lated in  this  manner." 

In  the  French  and  in  the  Revolutionary 
Wars  Washington  used  his  influence  against 
cursing  and  swearing.  He  speaks  of  "that 
unmeaning  and  abominable  custom  of 
swearing,"  by  which  his  feelings  were  "con- 
tinually wounded,"  and  declared  the  habit  as 
both  "wanton  and  shocking,"  and  asked  his 
fellow  officers  for  the  sake  of  religion,  de- 
cency, and  order,  to  "use  their  influence  and 
authority  to  check  a  vice  which  is  as  un- 
profitable as  it  is  wicked  and  shameful." 

When  Washington  left  home,  his  mother's 
last  words  were:     "My  son,  do  not  neglect 
the  duty  of  secret  prayer." 
12 


"The  Daily  Sacrifice"  is  the  title  of  a 
book  of  prayers  for  private  daily  use,  in 
Washington's  own  handwriting.  The  occa- 
sional corrections  indicate  it  was  his  own 
composition  for  his  own  use. 

Washington's  nephew,  Mr.  Lewis,  says  he 
had  "accidentally  witnessed  his  private  de- 
votions in  his  study  both  morning  and 
evening;  that  on  these  occasions  he  had 
seen  him  in  a  kneeling  posture,  with  a  Bible 
open  before  him,  and  that  he  believed  such 
to  have  been  his  daily  practice." 

In  that  terrible  winter  at  Valley  Forge, 
Isaac  Potts,  out  in  the  woods,  heard  a 
voice  and,  peering  through  the  trees,  saw- 
Washington  on  his  knees  praying  aloud  to 
God  for  help  and  strength.  The  Quaker 
went  home  and  told  his  wife  Washington 
would  be  successful  in  war,  for  God  would 
hear  such  prayers  as  those.  The  Rev.  J. 
Eastburn  saw  him  in  prayer  near  the  battle 
of  Princeton.  At  still  another  time  he  was 
overheard  at  his  private  prayer,  ending  with 
the  words,  "Grant  the  petition  of  Thy  serv- 
ant for  the  sake  of  Him  whom  Thou  hast 
called  Thy  Beloved  Son."  General  Cobb 
says,  "Throughout  the  war  it  was  under- 
stood in  his  military  family,  that  he  gave  a 
part  of  each  day  to  private  prayer  and  de- 
votion." General  Sullivan  makes  the  same 
remark. 

Mrs.  Washington's  grand-daughter,  who 
lived  for  twenty  years  in  the  Washington 
family,  wrote,  "I  have  heard  my  mother  say 
General  Washington  always  received  the 
Sacrament  with  my  grandmother  before  the 
Revolution." 

13 


When  the  army  lay  near  Morristown,  N. 
J.,  Washington  said  to  Pastor  Jones:  "I 
am  very  anxious  to  partake  of  the  Lord's 
Supper." 

Major  Popham  wrote,  "The  President 
had  more  than  once,  I  believe  I  may  say 
often,  attended  the  Sacramental  Table,  at 
which  I  had  the  privilege  and  happiness  to 
kneel  with  him." 

In  a  letter  to  the  Governors  of  the  States 
in  1783  he  says,  "I  make  it  my  earnest 
prayer  that  God  would  have  you,  and  the 
State  over  which  you  preside,  in  His  holy 
protection;  that  He  would  incline  the  hearts 
of  the  citizens  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of  sub- 
ordination and  obedience  to  government;  to 
entertain  a  brotherly  affection  for  one  an- 
other, for  their  fellow-citizens  of  the  United 
States  at  large,  and,  particularly  for  their 
brethren  who  have  sowed  in  the  field;  and, 
finally,  that  He  would  most  graciously  be 
pleased  to  dispose  us  all  to  do  justice,  to 
love  mercy,  and  to  demean  ourselves  with 
that  charity,  humility,  and  pacific  temper  of 
mind  which  were  the  characteristics  of  the 
Divine  Author  of  our  blessed  religion,  with- 
out an  humble  imitation  of  Whose  example 
in  these  things  we  can  never  hope  to  be  a 
happy  nation." 

In  his  Farewell  Address  he  says,  "Where 
is  the  security  for  property,  for  reputation, 
for  life,  if  the  sense  of  religious  obligations 
desert  the  oaths,  which  are  the  instruments 
of  investigation  in  Courts  of  Justice.  What- 
ever may  be  conceded  to  the  influence  of 
refined  education  on  minds  of  peculiar  struc- 
ture, reason  and  experience  both  forbid  us 

14 


to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail 
in  exclusion  of  religious  principle,"  When 
he  bade  farewell  to  the  army,  he  offered 
"his  recommendations  to  their  grateful 
country,  and  his  prayers  to  the  God  of 
Armies."  When  he  bade  farewell  to  Con- 
gress, he  commended  "the  interests  of  our 
dearest  country  to  the  protection  of  Al- 
mighty God,  and  those  who  have  the  super- 
intendence of  them  to  His  holy  keeping." 

When  in  New  York  City,  President  Wash- 
ington worshiped  regularly  at  St.  Paul's 
Church.  In  Philadelphia,  at  Christ  Church, 
the  President  was  "a  constant  attendant  in 
the  morning."  Here,  when  he  had  received 
a  just  reproof  from  the  pulpit,  he  did  not 
get  angry,  but  honored  the  preacher  for  his 
integrity  and  candor  and  would  never  again 
give  cause  for  the  repetition  of  the  reproof. 
When,  in  1793,  the  yellow  fever  broke  out 
in  Philadelphia,  he  moved  to  Germantown 
and  for  six  weeks^  boarded  with  the  Rev. 
Dr.  F.  L.  Herman,  and  attended  the  English 
services  with  his  family;  he  even  attended 
the  German  services,  to  set  a  good  example. 

While  President,  Washington  usually  re- 
tired to  his  study  at  nine  o'clock  every  night 
for  communion  with  his  Bible  and  his  God; 
no  exception  was  made  when  he  had  com- 
pany, receptions,  and  state  dinners.  On 
Sundays  he  would  have  no  visitors;  Trum- 
bull, the  Speaker  of  the  House,  an  earnest 
Christian,  was  the  only  exception.  At  Phila- 
delphia a  youthful  member  of  the  Presi- 
dent's household,  whose  room  was  near  the 
study,  on  one  occasion  looked  in  and  saw 
Washington  upon  his  knees  at  a  small  table 

15 


with  a  candle  and  an  open  Bible  thereon. 
Traveling  through  Connecticut  in  the  fall  of 
1789,  Washington  on  Sunday  "attended  the 
morning  and  evening  services  and  heard 
very  lame  discourses  from  a  Mr.  Pond." 

Certain  important  despatches  were  deliv- 
ered to  Washington  while  at  service  in 
church.  "He  opened  them  immediately,  and 
deliberately  and  attentively  read  them 
through;  then  laying  them  on  the  seat  by 
his  side,  he  resumed  his  Prayer  Book,  and 
apparently  gave  his  mind  to  the  solemnities 
of  the  place  and  the  hour." 

At  Yorktown  he  said  to  his  soldiers,  "My 
brave  fellows,  let  no  sensation  of  satisfac- 
tion for  the  triumphs  you  have  gained  in- 
duce you  to  insult  your  fallen  enemy;  let  no 
shouting,  no  clamorous  huzzaing  increase 
their  mortification.  It  is  sufficient  satisfac- 
tion for  us  that  we  witness  their  humiliation. 
Posterity  will  huzza  for  us!" 

With  all  his  self-respect  and  natural  dig- 
nity, Washington  was  modest  and  unassum- 
ing. When  elected  commander-in-chief,  he 
frankly  doubted  his  ability;  yet  without  re- 
luctance he  accepted  the  trust,  pledging  to 
exert  all  his  powers,  under  Providence,  to 
lead  the  country  through  its  trials.  He  was 
fearless  of  praise  or  blame,  though  not  in- 
sensible to  either.  He  was  reserved  in  man- 
ner, yet  capable  of  the  warmest  aflfection. 
He  had  a  very  fiery  temper,  but  he  usually 
kept  it  well  under  control. 

He  once  said,  "I  can  truly  say,  I  had 
rather  be  at  Mount  Vernon  with  a  friend  or 
two  about  me,  than  to  be  attended  at  the 
seat  of  government  by  the  officers  of  state 

16 


and  the  representatives  of  every  power  of 
Europe."  He  said  that  more  permanent  and 
genuine  happiness  is  to  be  found  in  con- 
nubial life  than  in  the  giddy  rounds  of  pleas- 
ure or  the  scenes  of  successful  ambition. 

When  the  army  thought  of  making  him 
king,  he  spurned  the  proffered  crown  as  a 
personal  insult  and  wrote:  "If  you  have 
any  regard  for  your  country,  ...  or  respect 
for  me,  banish  these  thoughts  from  your 
mind,  and  never  communicate,  as  from  your- 
self or  anyone  else,  a  sentiment  of  the  like 
nature." 

Washington's  charities  were  not  very  con- 
spicuous, but  very  judicious.  Careful  in  the 
smallest  expenses,  he  never  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  the  many  poor  of  the  county.  For 
their  use  he  kept  a  granary  full  of  corn,  and 
a  boat  with  a  net  in  one  of  his  best  fisher- 
ies. The  baker  in  the  neighborhood  of  one 
of  the  "Virginia  Springs"  was  ordered  to 
supply  a  daily  dole  of  bread  to  a  number 
of  very  poor  mountaineers,  but  not  to  tell 
the  giver's  name.  Quite  by  chance  it  was 
found  out  to  be  Washington,  as  Governor 
Johnson  of  Maryland  tells  us. 

During  the  yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia 
Washington  sent  to  Bishop  White  a  con- 
tribution to  be  used  "without  ostentation 
or  mention  of  my  name." 

When  President  at  Philadelphia,  "he  in- 
cidentally heard  some  one  speak  of  a  very 
destitute  family  in  the  city.  He  asked  for 
the  number  and  street  in  which  they  lived. 
Soon  after  he  visited  this  family  in  their 
lowly  abode,  spoke  words  of  gentle  sympa- 
thy to  them,  and,  when  leaving,  pressed  ten 

17 


dollars  into  the  trembling  hand  of  the  grate- 
ful widow."  While  very  careful  not  to  help 
the  lazy,  he  was  always  ready  to  help  the 
deserving.  Even  during  the  troublous  times 
of  the  war  he  did  not  forget  to  do  good. 
He  wrote  Lund  Washington,  the  manager 
of  his  estate,  to  give  about  £40  to  £50  a 
year  to  the  worthy  poor  and  seed  corn  to 
such  as  were  in  need  of  it.  He  founded  the 
School  for  Boys  in  Alexandria,  and  for 
many  years  gave  $250.00  annually  for  the 
schooling  of  the  poor,  and  left  $4,000  to  the 
institution,  and  $10,000  to  Liberty  Hall 
Academy  in  Rockbridge  County,  and  $20,000 
to  a  National  University  at  Washington. 
All  his  slaves  were  to  be  freed  at  the  death 
of  his  wife,  who  had  the  whole  property 
for  life,  about  $530,000. 

He  gave  himself,  his  life,  his  fortune,  his 
all,  to  his  country  and  refused  all  pay  for 
his  invaluable  services. 

He  said,  "I  hope  that  there  is  public 
virtue  enough  left  among  us  to  deny  our- 
selves everything  but  the  bare  necessaries 
of  life,  to  accomplish  our  end." 

"I  am  resolved  that  no  misrepresentations, 
falsehoods,  or  calumny  shall  swerve  me 
from  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  strict  line 
of  duty." 

In  a  letter  to  Lafayette  Washington 
wrote,  "I  am  not  ashamed  to  call  myself  a 
Christian,  and  I  try  earnestly  to  be  one." 

Jared  Sparks  says  that  in  the  twelve  vol- 
umes of  Washington's  writings,  "whenever 
he  approaches  it  (the  Christian  revelation), 
and  indeed  when  he  alludes  in  any  manner 
to  religion,  it  is  done  with  seriousness  and 

18 


reverence."  Ford  says,  "In  all  public  ways 
Washington  threw  his  influence  in  favor  ol 
religion."  President  Madison  says,  "He  was 
constant  in  his  observance  of  worship." 
Chief  Justice  John  Marshall  says,  "He  was 
a  sincere  believer  in  the  Christian  faith,  and 
a  truly  devout  man." 

When  the  doctors  in  New  York  told  him 
that  he  was  sick  unto  death,  he  said,  "I  am 
not  afraid  to  die,  and  can  hear  the  worst. 
Whether  to-night  or  twenty  years  hence 
makes  no  difference.  I  know  that  I  am  in 
the  hands  of  a  good  Providence." 

His  last  sickness  was  less  than  twenty- 
four  hours.  To  his  doctor  he  said,  "I  die 
hard,  but  I  am  not  afraid  to  go.  I  believed 
from  my  first  attack  that  I  should  not  sur- 
vive it."  He  also  said,  "I  should  have  been 
glad,  had  it  pleased  God,  to  die  a  little 
easier,  but  I  doubt  not  it  is  for  my  good." 
The  Bible  was  on^  his  dying  bed;  his  be- 
loved wife  was  kneeling  by  his  side;  he 
said,  "I  am  just  going.  *Tis  well.  Father 
of  mercies,  take  me  to  Thyself!" 

His  epitaph  is,  "I  am  the  Resurrection 
and  the  Life." 

At  his  death  Congress  resolved,  1.  to 
erect  a  grand  marble  monument,  and,  2.  to 
hold  a  funeral  service  in  the  German  Luth- 
eran church. 


19 


Authorities: — Senator  Lodge's  George 
Washington;  President  Woodrow  Wilson's 
Washington;  Ford's  The  True  George 
Washington;  Lossing's  Washington;  Ever- 
ett's Washington;  Weems's  Washington; 
Saunder's  Washington  Centennial  Souvenir; 
Sparks's  Washington's  Writings,  vol.  12; 
Collections  of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania,  vol.  1;  Vernon's  George 
Washington,  Soldier  and  Christian;  Har- 
baugh's  Religious  Character  of  Washing- 
ton; M'Guire's  Religious  Opinions  and 
Character  of  Washington;  Potter's  Wash- 
ington in  His  Library  and  Life;  The  Cen- 
tury, April,  1889;  The  Treasury,  February, 
1901;  Washington  as  Churchman  and  Com- 
municant, Address  to  the  Drawing  Room 
Club  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria  by  Dr.  Eli- 
phalet  Nott  Potter,  formerly  president  of 
Hobart  College. 


20 


president  llacUson. 

General  Jackson  was  a  very  wicked  man, 
awfully  profane,  and  a  fighter  of  duels. 

While  President  of  the  United  States  he 
told  the  pastor  of  the  church  he  attended: 
"No  man  can  feel  the  importance  of  religion 
more  deeply  than  I  do.  I  have  again  and 
again  resolved  to  attend  to  the  subject,  but 
the  cares  of  my  busy  life  have  induced  me 
to  postpone  it.  I  promised  my  wife  that, 
so  soon  as  the  election  was  over,  so  that  I 
should  not  be  accused  of  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian in  order  that  I  might  get  votes,  I  would 
attend  to  the  salvation  of  my  soul.  But 
now  my  cabinet  is  in  such  a  state  of  con- 
tention that  I  have  no  time  to  think  of  any- 
thing else.  I  am,  Ijowever,  determined,  in 
the  first  moments  of  leisure  I  can  find,  to 
endeavor  to  prepare  to  meet  my  God." 

"Andy"  Jackson  would  attend  to  his  soul 
when  he  had  "moments  of  leisure,"  too  busy 
just  now,  had  no  time  at  present.  Other 
fools  have  said  the  same  foolish  things — 
have   you? 

In  1838  President  Jackson  wrote  a  friend 
who  had  written  him  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion: "I  would  long  since  have  made  this 
solemn  public  dedication  to  Almighty  God, 
but,  knowing  the  wretchedness  of  this 
world,  and  how  prone  many  are  to  evil — 
that  the  scoffer  of  religion  would  have 
cried   out:     Hypocrisy!     he   has   joined   the 

21 


Church  for  political  effect — I  thought  it 
best  to  postpone  this  public  act  until  my  re- 
tirement to  the  shades  of  private  life,  when 
no  false  imputation  could  be  made  that 
might  be  injurious  to  religion." 

"Old  Hickory"  had  courage  enough  to 
face  Indian  savages  and  British  bullets,  he 
was  reckless  enough  to  sin  openly  before 
God  and  man,  but  he  was  too  much  of  a 
coward  to  confess  his  wrong  and  confess 
his  Savior.  And  "Old  Hickory"  was 
enough  of  a  hypocrite  to  place  the  blame 
on  the  scoffers,  who  might  call  him  a  hypo- 
crite. Out  of  a  most  tender  regard  for  "re- 
ligion" he  would  not  confess  his  religion. 
How  people  old  enough  to  vote  can  fool 
themselves!    Do  you? 

On  quitting  the  White  House  after  two 
terms,  General  Jackson  retired  to  the  Herm- 
itage in  the  forests  of  Tennessee  and  en- 
joyed "the  shades  of  private  life."  Did  he 
keep  the  promises  made  to  his  wife,  to  his 
friend,  to  the  Washington  pastor?  He  broke 
his  repeated  promises.  "The  first  moments 
of  leisure"  grew  into  years  of  leisure,  and 
yet  no  leisure  to  attend  to  his  soul's  salva- 
tion. Do  you  know  of  someone  in  the  same 
state? 

In  1539  Jackson's  daughter-in-law  was 
sick  and  troubled  in  mind,  and  Pastor  Edgar 
of  Nashville  was  called,  to  whom  she  said 
she  was  "a  great  sinner." 

"You  a  sinner?"  broke  in  General  Jack- 
son. "Why  you  are  all  goodness  and 
purity!  Join  Dr.  Edgar's  church  by  all 
means." 


22 


This  proves  that  Jackson  might  know 
very  much  about  politics,  but  not  the  very 
first  thing  about  the  Christian  religion.  The 
Christian  does  not  trust  in  his  "purity  and 
goodness,"  but  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.  What's 
your  idea? 

Mrs.  Jackson  was  a  member  of  the  little 
congregation  which  had  been  gathered  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  the  church  stood  on 
the  Hermitage  grounds.  A  protracted 
meeting  was  held  in  1839  and  Dr.  Edgar  of 
Nashville  preached  a  series  of  sermons  and 
General  Jackson  was  a  regular  and  serious 
listener.  The  last  of  the  series  was  "On  the 
Interposition  of  Providence  in  the  Affairs  of 
men."  It  sketched  the  career  of  a  man  who 
had  passed  the  dangers  of  the  tomahawk  of 
the  savage  and  the  dagger  of  the  assassin,  of 
military  and  political  campaigns  and  who 
had  been  saved  as  by  God's  miracle.  "How 
is  it,"  cried  the  preacher,  "that  a  man  en- 
dowed with  reason  and  gifted  with  intelli- 
gence can  pass  through  such  scenes  as 
these  unharmed  and  not  see  the  hand  of 
God  in  his  deliverance?" 

On  the  way  home  the  General's  carriage 
was  overtaken  by  the  preacher  on  horse- 
back. Jackson  got  out  and  asked  the 
preacher  to  dismount  for  a  private  talk. 
Out  of  sight  and  hearing  of  the  others, 
Jackson  said:  "Dr.  Edgar,  I  want  you  to 
go  home  with  me  tonight." 

Dr.  Edgar  had  promised  to  visit  a  sick 
lady  and  declined.  Jackson  repeated  his  re- 
quest and  pleaded  it  a  third  time:    "Doctor, 

23 


I  want  you  to  go  home  with  me  tonight." 
But  the  pastor  could  not  break  his  engage- 
ment. 

All  that  night  Jackson  walked  the  floor, 
talked  with  his  daughter,  and  prayed. 

About  sunrise  Pastor  Edgar  came  and 
General  Jackson  said  he  wished  to  join  the 
Church.  After  the  usual  questions  had  been 
answered  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  pastor, 
he  said  very  seriously:  "General,  there  is 
one  more  question  which  it  is  my  duty  to 
ask  you.  Can  you  forgive  all  your  en- 
emies?" 

After  a  silent  struggle:  "My  political 
enemies  I  can  freely  forgive;  but  as  for 
those  who  abused  me  when  I  was  serving 
my  country  in  the  field,  and  those  who  at- 
tacked me  for  serving  my  country — Doctor, 
that  is  a  different  case." 

Same  old  story;  heard  it  many  time  since. 
Have  you  told  the  same  story? 

The  faithful  pastor  insisted  it  was  the 
same  case,  a  Christian  forgives  all  enemies, 
even  as  Christ  forgives  all  of  us.  After  a 
severe  struggle  Old  Hickory  was  subdued 
and  he  surrendered  to  the  Savior. 

After  the  usual  services  that  Sunday 
morning,  General  Andrew  Jackson,  twice 
President  of  the  United  States,  now  about 
seventy  years  of  age,  rose  in  his  pew,  lean- 
ing heavily  on  his  walking  stick  with  both 
hands,  tears  rolling  down  his  cheeks,  con- 
fessed his  faith  in  his  Savior  and  vowed  to 
follow  Him.  The  tense  silence  was  broken 
by  the  sobs  and  pious  exclamations  of  the 
people  crowding  the  church  and  the  colored 

24 


servants  crowding  to  the  doors  and  win- 
dows. A  familiar  hymn  was  sung  with 
ecstatic  fervor  which  expressed  and  relieved 
the  feelings  of  all. 

Then  the  war-worn  veteran,  with  bronzed 
face  and  frosted  hair,  knelt  humbly  and  was 
baptized  in  the  name  of  God  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  After  this  he  re- 
ceived the  Lord's  Supper  with  the  congre- 
gation. 

"Old  Hickory,"  yes,  but  his  whole  life 
and  character  was  changed.  He  held  family 
praj'ers  every  evening  with  his  family,  and 
servants,  and  guests,  no  matter  who  or  what 
or  how  many  they  were.  He  spent  much 
time  reading  the  Bible,  and  Scott's  Com- 
mentary he  read  twice,  and  he  learned  to 
love  the  hymns  in  what  he  called  his  "Hime- 
book." 

Mr.  William  Tyack,  a  friend  of  the  fam- 
ily, spent  a  few  dcfys  with  the  General  as 
his  last  battle  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and 
made  notes.  "At  nine  o'clock,  as  is  the 
custom,  all  the  General's  family,  except  the 
few  who  take  their  turn  to  watch  by  his 
side,  took  their  leave  of  him;  each  of  the 
family  approached  him,  received  his  bless- 
ing, bade  him  farewell;  kissed  him,  as  it 
would  seem,  an  eternal  good-night;  for  he 
would  say:  My  work  is  done  for  life!  After 
his  family  retires  it  is  touching  to  witness 
this  heroic  man,  who  has  faced  every  danger 
with  unyielding  front,  offer  up  his  prayer 
ior*  those  whom  Providence  has  comitted 
to  his  care;  that  Heaven  would  protect  and 
prosper  them  when  he  is  no  more — praying 

25 


still  more  fervently  to  God  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  his  country,  of  the  Union,  and  the 
people  of  the  United  States  from  all  for- 
eign influence  and  invasion — tendering  his 
forgiveness  to  his  enemies,  and  his  grati- 
tude to  God  for  his  support  and  success 
through  a  long  life,  and  for  the  hope  of 
eternal  salvation  through  the  merits  of  our 
blessed  Redeemer." 

On  the  last  Sunday  but  two  of  his  life, 
Jackson  took  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  family,  spoke  much  of  the  com- 
fort of  religion,  and  said  he  was  ready  for 
the  last  summons. 

Just  before  his  death  he  said  to  a  visitor: 
"I  am  in  the  hands  of  a  merciful  God.  I 
have  full  confidence  in  His  goodness  and 
mercy.  My  lamp  of  life  is  nearly  out  and 
the  last  glimmer  has  come.  I  am  ready  to 
depart  when  called.  The  Bible  is  true. 
Upon  that  sacred  volume  I  rest  my  hope  for 
eternal  salvation,  through  the  merits  and 
blood  of  our  blessed  Lord  and  Savior,  Jesus 
Christ." 


26 


Suing  fytH  anms  an  a  mnahtn  aI|ntJpl  hg 
tI|F  Uglyt  from  burning  lugB. 

Jfrnm  Aitkrn'H   "Sog'a  Hife  of  CtnToln". 


president  TUmcoln. 

Abraham  Lincoln  sold  his  farms  for  $17,- 
000  and  moved  from  Virginia  to  Kentucky 
about  1782,  where  he  was  killed  by  the  Indi- 
ans a  few  years  later.  His  son  Thomas  was 
but  six  years  old,  and  grew  up  in  the  wilder- 
ness literally  without  education,  and  learned 
to  he  a  carpenter  from  Joseph  Hanks. 

Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  cousin  Nancy 
Hanks,  then  twenty-three,  were  married  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Jesse  Head  on  June  12,  1806, 
at  the  home  of  her  uncle,  Richard  Berry, 
near  Beechland  in  Washington  County, 
Kentucky.  The  boisterous  wedding  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  "infare"  given  by  the  bride's 
guardian,  John  H.  Parrott. 

On  Feb.  12,  1809,  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
born  in  a  one-room  log  cabin,  without  win- 
dows and  doors,  at  Nolin's  Creek,  Hardin 
County,   Kentucky. 

When  little  Abe  was  eight,  his  parents 
moved  into  the  wilds  of  Indiana.  His  moth- 
er had  a  good  knowledge  of  her  Bible  and 
hymnal  and  taught  them  to  her  boy.  There 
was  family  w^orship  and  table  prayers.  Abe 
said  his  evening  prayer  at  his  mother's  knee. 
The  godly  mother  said:  'T  would  rather 
Abe  would  be  able  to  read  the  Bible  than 
to  own  a  farm,  if  he  can't  have  but  one." 

Little  Abe's  first  letter  was  written  to 
Parson  David  Elkins,  hundred  miles  away, 
to  come  and  "preach  a  memorial  service 
for  my  mother."  It  was  done  after  some 
months. 

28 


In  1846  he  said  he  was  nine  years  old 
when  his  mother  died;  that  his  instruction 
by  her  in  letters  and  morals,  and  especially 
the  Bible  stories,  and  the  interest  and  love 
he  acquired  in  reading  the  Bibl^  through 
this  teaching  of  his  mother,  had  been  the 
strongest  and  most  influential  experience  in 
his  life.  The  Bible  she  had  read,  and  had 
taught  him  to  read,  was  the  greatest  com- 
fort he  and  his  sister  had  after  their  mother 
was  gone. 

On  Dec.  2,  1819,  Thomas  Lincoln  mar- 
ried the  Widow  Sally  Bush  Johnston,  who 
thought  he  had  reformed  his  old  Kentucky 
ways  and  was  now  an  industrious  and  pros- 
perous farmer.  She  made  the  best  of  a  bad 
bargain  and  had  her  new  husband  put  down 
a  floor  in  the  rude  cabin,  and  hang  w^indows 
and  doors.  She  made  the  ill-used  Abraham 
feel  "like  a  human  being";  her  goodness 
touched  his  childish  heart  and  taught  him 
that  blows  and  taunts  and  degradation  were 
not  to  be  his  only  portion  in  the  world.  Of 
her  he  says:  "All  I  am  or  hope  to  be  I  owe 
to  my  sainted  mother." 

Lincoln's  days  in  school  did  not  amount 
to  more  than  ten  months  in  all.  "Of  course, 
when  I  came  of  age,  I  did  not  know  much. 
Still,  somehow,  I  could  read,  write,  and 
cipher  to  the  rule  of  three,  but  that  was 
all." 

And  yet  he  had  a  good  education,  a  very 
good  one,  better  than  many  a  college  grad- 
uate can  boast. 

John  Hanks  says:  "When  Abe  and  I  re- 
turned to  the  house  from  work,  he  would 
go  to  the  cupboard,  snatch  a  piece  o'  corn- 

29 


president  Lincoln. 

Abraham  Lincoln  sold  his  farms  for  $17,- 
000  and  moved  from  Virginia  to  Kentucky 
about  1782,  where  he  was  killed  by  the  Indi- 
ans a  few  years  later.  His  son  Thomas  was 
but  six  years  old,  and  grew  up  in  the  wilder- 
ness literally  without  education,  and  learned 
to  be  a  carpenter  from  Joseph  Hanks. 

Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  cousin  Nancy 
Hanks,  then  twenty-three,  were  married  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Jesse  Head  on  June  12,  1806, 
at  the  home  of  her  uncle,  Richard  Berry, 
near  Beechland  in  Washington  County, 
Kentucky.  The  boisterous  wedding  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  "infare"  given  by  the  bride's 
guardian,  John  H.  Parrott. 

On  Feb.  12,  1809,  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
born  in  a  one-room  log  cabin,  without  win- 
dows and  doors,  at  Nolin's  Creek,  Hardin 
County,   Kentucky. 

When  little  Abe  was  eight,  his  parents 
moved  into  the  wilds  of  Indiana.  His  moth- 
er had  a  good  knowledge  of  her  Bible  and 
hymnal  and  taught  them  to  her  boy.  There 
was  family  worship  and  table  prayers.  Abe 
said  his  evening  prayer  at  his  mother's  knee. 
The  godly  mother  said:  "I  would  rather 
Abe  would  be  able  to  read  the  Bible  than 
to  own  a  farm,  if  he  can't  have  but  one." 

Little  Abe's  first  letter  was  written  to 
Parson  David  Elkins,  hundred  miles  away, 
to  come  and  "preach  a  memorial  service 
for  my  mother."  It  was  done  after  some 
months. 

28 


In  1846  he  said  he  was  nine  years  old 
when  his  mother  died;  that  his  instruction 
by  her  in  letters  and  morals,  and  especially 
the  Bible  stories,  and  the  interest  and  love 
he  acquired  in  reading  the  Bibl^  through 
this  teaching  of  his  mother,  had  been  the 
strongest  and  most  influential  experience  in 
his  life.  The  Bible  she  had  read,  and  had 
taught  him  to  read,  was  the  greatest  com- 
fort he  and  his  sister  had  after  their  mother 
was  gone. 

On  Dec.  2,  1819,  Thomas  Lincoln  mar- 
ried the  Widow  Sally  Bush  Johnston,  who 
thought  he  had  reformed  his  old  Kentucky 
ways  and  was  now  an  industrious  and  pros- 
perous farmer.  She  made  the  best  of  a  bad 
bargain  and  had  her  new  husband  put  down 
a  floor  in  the  rude  cabin,  and  hang  windows 
and  doors.  She  made  the  ill-used  Abraham 
feel  "like  a  human  being";  her  goodness 
touched  his  childish  heart  and  taught  him 
that  blows  and  taunts  and  degradation  were 
not  to  be  his  only  portion  in  the  world.  Of 
her  he  says:  "All  I  am  or  hope  to  be  I  owe 
to  my  sainted  mother." 

Lincoln's  days  in  school  did  not  amount 
to  more  than  ten  months  in  all.  "Of  course, 
when  I  came  of  age,  I  did  not  know  much. 
Still,  somehow,  I  could  read,  write,  and 
cipher  to  the  rule  of  three,  but  that  was 
all." 

And  yet  he  had  a  good  education,  a  very 
good  one,  better  than  many  a  college  grad- 
uate can  boast. 

John  Hanks  says:  "When  Abe  and  I  re- 
turned to  the  house  from  work,  he  would 
go  to  the  cupboard,  snatch  a  piece  o'  corn- 

29 


bread,  take  down  a  book,  sit  down,  cock  his 
legs  up  high  as  his  head,  and  read." 

Under  his  stepmother's  direction  he  read 
the  Bible  till  he  knew  all  of  it  quite  well 
and  could  recite  many  chapters  of  it.  Next 
to  the  Bible  he  knew  his  hymnal;  his  favor- 
ites were:  "Onward  Christian  Soldiers," 
"How  tedious  and  tasteless  the  hours," 
"There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood,"  and 
"Alas  and  did  my  Savior  bleed". 

He  knew  the  great  English  masterpiece, 
Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  also  Defoe's 
"Robinson  Crusoe,"  and  Aesop's  "Fables," 
which  he  loved  as  much  as  did  Luther,  and 
Franklin's  "Autobiography,"  and  Shakes- 
peare's Works,  and  "The  Revised  Statutes 
of  Indiana"  with  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Ordinances  of  1787.  Here  is 
the  cream  of  the  best.  Would  that  every 
boy  had  Abe's  love  of  reading  and  course 
of  reading;  it  is  good  for  head  and  heart, 
for  culture  in  a  cabin,  for  a  gentleman  in 
jeans. 

Seeing  some  drunken  men,  young  Abe 
wrote  an  essay  on  temperance,  and  never 
again  tasted  liquor.  His  partner  insisted  on 
having  whiskey  in  the  store  to  draw  cus- 
tomers, when  Lincoln  objected  in  vain,  he 
stepped  out  of  business.  When  notified  of 
his  nomination  to  the  presidency,  Lincoln 
said  to  the  committee: 

"Gentlemen,  we  must  pledge  our  mutual 
healths  in  the  most  healthful  beverage 
which  God  has  given  to  man.  It  is  the  only 
beverage  which  I  have  ever  used,  or  allowed 
in  my  family.    And  I  cannot    conscientiously 

30 


depart  from  it  on  the  present  occasion.     It 
is  pure  Adam's  ale  from  the  spring." 

When  clerking  for  Denton  Offutt,  Lincoln 
walked  three  miles  one  evening  after  the 
store  was  closed  to  return  a  sixpence  which 
had  been  overpaid.  On  another  occasion 
he  gave  four  ounces  for  half  a  pound  of  tea 
and  delivered  the  difiference  before  he  slept. 
For  this  and  other  acts  of  the  same  sort  he 
became  known  as  "Honest  Old  Abe." 

As  a  lawyer  he  would  not  take  a  case  un- 
less it  was  a  good  one.  If  his  client  were 
wrong,  he  tried  to  settle  the  dispute  the  best 
way  he  could,  without  going  into  court;  if 
the  evidence  had  been  misrepresented  to 
him,  he  would  throw  up  the  case  in  the 
midst  of  the  trial  and  return  the  fee. 

When  Lincoln  came  to  New  Salem  in  Il- 
linois in  1830,  he  fell  in  with  a  lot  of  rough 
infidels  and  scoffers.  In  1834  he  read  Vol- 
ney's  "Ruins"  and  Paine's  "Age  of  Reason." 
When  he  moved  to  Springfield  in  1837  he 
read  Hume  and  Gibbon  and  was  in  the  com- 
pany of  scoffers. 

During  these  infidel  years  Lincoln  wrote 
silly  and  very  vulgar  verses.  He  outraged 
the  farmers  by  his  buffoonery,  making 
coarse  and  vulgar  speeches  in  the  form  of 
sermons  to  the  snickering  field  hands. 
Things  have  been  published  about  him  at 
this  period  that  his  friends  would  like  to 
have  forgotten  or  even  unknown. 

A  change  was  coming  over  him. 

In  May,  1839,  the  Rev.  James  F.  Jacquess, 
a  Methodist,  preached  on  "Ye  must  be  born 
again,"  and  he  says:  "I  noticed  that  Mr. 
Lincoln   appeared   to  be   deeply   interested 

31 


in  the  sermon.  A  few  days  after  that  Sun- 
day Mr.  Lincoln  called  on  me  and  informed 
me  that  he  had  been  greatly  impressed  with 
my  remarks  on  Sunday  and  that  he  had 
come  to  talk  with  me  further  on  the  mat- 
ter. I  invited  him  in,  and  my  wife  and  I 
talked  and  prayed  with  him  for  hours.  Now, 
I  have  seen  many  persons  converted;  I  have 
seen  hundreds  brought  to  Christ,  and  if 
ever  a  person  was  converted  Abraham  Lin- 
coln was  converted  that  night  in  my  house. 
.  .  .  He  never  joined  my  church,  but  I  will 
always  believe  that  since  that  night  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  lived  and  died  a  Christian 
gentleman."— Literary  Digest,  Nov.  27,  1909, 
from  N.  Y.  Christian  Advocate,  from  Min- 
utes of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Eleventh  An- 
nual Reunion  of  Survivors  of  the  Seventy- 
third  Regiment,  Illinois  Infantry  Volun- 
teers, held  in  1897. 

In  1845  Lincoln  turned  over  to  his  shift- 
less father  a  fee  of  $35.00,  though  his  whole 
income  from  a  term  of  court  did  not  exceed 
$50.00  at  that  time. 

In  1846  Lincoln  ran  for  Congress  against 
Peter  Cartwright,  the  famous  Methodist 
pioneer  preacher,  and  was  accused  of  being 
an  infidel.  Lincoln  in  private  denied  the 
charge  absolutely,  but  he  would  not  do  so 
publicly,  would  not  drag  Jesus  Christ  upon 
the  stump,  it  being  a  political  matter,  not 
a  religious  question.  Later  Cartwright  tes- 
tified to  Lincoln's  "Christian  Character." 

Late  in  1849  Pastor  James  Smith  had  a 
funeral  sermon  in  Lincoln's  family  and  Lin- 
coln read  Smith's  book  on  the  inspiration 
of  the  Bible.     He  himself  said  he  examined 

32 


the  arguments  as  a  lawyer  investigates  tes- 
timony in  a  case  in  which  he  is  deeply  in- 
terested and  declared  the  argument  unan- 
swerable. "I  am  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
the  Christian  religion."  He  rented  a  pew 
at  $50.00  a  year  and  sat  in  it  with  his  fam- 
ily regularly  for  nearly  seven  years,  till  he 
went  to  Washington,  and  sent  his  children 
to  the  Sunday  School.  He  delivered  the 
yearly  address  of  the  Springfield  Bible  So- 
ciety in  1850.  After  drawing  a  contrast  be- 
tween the  Ten  Commandments  and  the 
most  eminent  lawgiver  of  antiquity,  he  said: 
"It  seems  to  me  that  nothing  short  of  in- 
finite wisdom  could  by  any  possibility  have 
devised  and  given  to  man  this  excellent  and 
perfect  moral  code.  It  is  suited  to  men  in 
all  the  conditions  of  life,  and  inculcates  all 
the  duties  they  owe  to  their  Creator,  to 
themselves,  and  their  fellow  men." 

When  Lincoln  heard  of  his  father's  seri- 
ous sickness,  he  wrjote  to  his  stepbrother, 
John  D.  Johnston,  on  Jan.  12,  1851:  "Say  to 
father  that  if  it  be  his  lot  to  go  now,  he 
will  soon  have  a  joyous  meeting  with  many 
loved  ones  gone  before,  and  where  the  rest 
of  us,  through  the  help  of  God,  hope  ere 
long  to  join  them." 

Lincoln  wrote  a  paper  to  show  that  the 
great  injury  of  Adam's  sin  was  made  just 
and  right  by  the  Atonement  of  Christ. 

Lincoln  could  not  understand  how  church 
members  could  vote  against  him,  but  said  to 
Mr.  Newman  Bateman,  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  of  Illinois:  "I  know  I 
am  right,  because  I  know  that  liberty  is 
right,  for  Christ  teaches  it,  and  Christ  is 
God." 

33 


After  his  election  in  1860  Lincoln  wrote 
to  Judge  Joseph  Gillespie,  "I  have  read  on 
my  knees  the  story  of  Gethsemane,  where 
the  Son  of  God  prayed  in  vain  that  the  cup 
of  bitterness  might  pass  from  Him." 

In  his  public  addresses,  in  his  private 
conversation  and  in  his  letters,  Lincoln 
clearly  emphasized  his  faith  in  God.  In  the 
great  historic  journey  which  Lincoln  took 
from  Springfield,  111.,  to  Washington,  to  be- 
come President,  he  made  many  speeches, 
and  in  all  of  them  he  told  the  people  of 
his  dependence  on  God  for  his  work  and 
trust  in  God  for  success. 

In  Washington  President  Lincoln  attend- 
ed the  Sunday  services  and  even  the  weekly 
prayer  meetings  of  Dr.  Gurley's  church. 

He  wrote  Reverdy  Johnson,  on  July  26, 
1862:  "I  am  a  patient  man,  always  willing 
to  forgive  on  the  Christian  terms  of  repent- 
ance, and  also  to  give  ample  time  for  re- 
pentance." 

On  Sept.  13,  1862,  to  a  deputation  from  all 
religious  denominations  of  Chicago,  he  said: 
"Whatever  appears  to  be  God's  will,  I  will 
do  it." 

In  May,  1864,  Lincoln  said,  "God  bless  all 
the  churches,  and  blessed  be  God,  who,  in 
this  our  great  trial,  giveth  us  the  churches." 

In  the  same  year  he  said  to  the  Rev.  J.  T. 
Duryea  of  New  York,  "I  have  always  taken 
counsel  of  Him  (God)  and  refer  to  Him 
my  plans,  and  have  never  adopted  a  course 
of  proceeding  without  being  assured,  as  far 
as  I  could  be,  of  His  approbation." 

"A.  Lincoln,  his  own  book"— that  is  writ- 
ten  on   the   inside   of   the   cover   of   an   old 

34 


copy  of  a  well-tliumbed  Bible  shown  in  the 
Lincoln  Museum  at  Washington. 

Throughout  life  Lincoln  was  a  close  stu- 
dent of  the  Bible,  and  it  was  the  one  book 
above  all  others  which  formed  his  mind  and 
heart.  In  all  his  early  speeches  as  a  lawyer 
at  the  bar  and  as  a  politician  before  the 
people  he  quoted  from  the  Bible  more  than 
from  any  other  book,  and  he  kept  this  up  to 
the  end  of  his  life. 

Alexander  Williamson,  a  tutor  in  Lin- 
coln's family  in  Washington,  said,  "Mr,  Lin- 
coln very  frequently  studied  the  Bible,  with 
the  aid  of  Cruden's  Concordance,  which  lay 
on  his  table." 

Mr.  Chittenden  quotes  Lincoln  as  fol- 
lows: "I  decided  long  ago  that  it  was  less 
difficult  to  believe  that  the  Bible  was  what 
it  claimed  to  be,  than  to  disbelieve  it." 

After  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
the  colored  people  of  Baltimore  presented 
the  President  with  a  handsome  copy  of  the 
Bible,  and  he  responded  as  follows:  "It  is 
the  best  gift  God  has  given  to  man.  All  the 
good  from  the  Savior  of  the  world  is  com- 
municated through  this  book.  All  things 
most  desirable  for  man's  welfare  here  and 
hereafter  are  to  be  found  portrayed  in  it." 

To  a  committee  of  Lutherans  in  May, 
1862,  Lincoln  said:  "I  welcome  here  the 
representatives  of  the  Evangelical  Luther- 
ans of  the  United  States.  I  accept,  with 
gratitude,  their  assurance  of  the  sympathy 
and  support  of  that  enlightened,  influential, 
and  loyal  class  of  my  fellow  citizens  in  an 
important  crisis,  which  involves,  in  my  judg- 
ment, not  only  the  civil  and  religious  liber- 

35 


ties  of  our  own  dear  land,  but  in  a  large 
degree  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of 
mankind  in  many  countries,  and  through 
many  ages.  .  .  .  You  all  may  recollect  that 
in  taking  up  the  sword  thus  forced  into  our 
hands,  this  government  appealed  to  the 
prayers  of  the  pious  and  the  good,  and  de- 
clared that  it  placed  its  whole  dependence 
upon  the  favor  of  God. 

I  now  humbly  and  reverently,  in  your 
presence,  reiterate  the  acknowledgement  of 
that  dependence."  .  .  . 

After  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  Lincoln  on 
Sunday,  July  5,  1863,  called  on  the  wounded 
Gen.  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  when  Gen.  James 
F.  Rusling  also  came  in. 

During  the  conversation  Sickles  asked  if 
he  and  the  Cabinet  had  not  been  anxious 
about  the  battle.  Lincoln  replied  that  the 
Cabinet  had,  but  he  had  not,  and  added  that 
during  the  Gettysburg  campaign  he  had 
gone  to  God  in  secret  prayer.  He  said  he 
told  the  Lord  this  was  His  country,  and 
the  war  was  His  war,  but  that  we  could  not 
stand  another  Fredericksburg  or  Chancel- 
lorsville;  and  that  he  then  and  there  made 
a  solemn  vow  with  his  Maker,  that  if  He 
would  stand  by  us  at  Gettysburg,  he  would 
stand  by  Him;  and  then  he  added:  "And 
He  did,  and  I  will."  He  said  that  after  he 
had  prayed  he  could  not  explain  how  it  was, 
but  a  sweet  comfort  had  crept  into  his  soul 
that  God  Almighty  had  taken  the  whole 
business  there  into  His  hands,  and  we  were 
bound  to  win  at  Gettysburg.  He  added  that 
he  did  not  want  it  repeated  then;  some  might 
laugh;  but  it  was  a  solemn  fact  that  he  had 

36 


prayed  mightily  over  both  Gettysburg  and 
Vicksburg,  and  verily  he  believed  our  Heav- 
enly Father  was  somehow  going  to  take 
care  of  the  American  Republic. 

At  the  time  of  this  conversation  President 
Lincoln  did  not  know  that  Vicksburg  had 
already  been  captured. 

Chittenden,  quoting  Lincoln:  "That  the 
Almighty  does  make  use  of  human  agen- 
cies, and  directly  intervenes  in  human  af- 
fairs, is  one  of  the  plainest  statements  of  the 
Bible.  I  have  had  so  many  evidences  of 
His  direction,  so  many  instances  when  I 
have  been  controlled  by  some  other  power 
than  my  own  will,  that  I  cannot  doubt  that 
this  power  comes  from  above." 

Mrs.  Rebecca  R.  Pomeroy,  the  nurse, 
writes: 

"I  know  nothing  of  his  previous  character 
before  the  war,  but  my  fourteen  weeks  in 
his  family  gave  me  a  good  insight  of  his 
daily  life,  not  only  all  hours  of  the  day  but 
when  his  meals  were  ready,  and  the  trou- 
bled heart  would  give  vent  in  tones  not  to 
be  misunderstood.  It  was  his  custom  when 
waiting  for  his  lunch  to  take  his  mother's 
old  wornout  Bible  and  lie  on  the  couch  and 
read,  and  one  day  he  asked  me  what  book 
I  liked  to  read  best;  and  I  said,  "I  am  fond 
of  the  Psalms."  "Yes,"  said  he  to  me, 
"they  are  the  best,  for  I  find  in  them  some- 
thing for  every  day  in  the  week!" 

When  Lincoln's  boy  "Tad"  (Thomas)  was 
very  sick,  he  said  to  the  nurse,  Mrs.  Pome- 
roy: "I  hope  you  will  pray  for  him,  and  if 
it  is  Gtfd's  will  that  he  may  be  spared,  and 
also    for    me,    for    I    need    the    prayers    of 


37 


many."  The  fourth  day,  and  the  sad  duty 
done,  that  of  laying  his  dear  son  out  of 
sight,  my  heart  prompted  me  to  say,  "Look 
up  for  strength,"  and  he  kindly  answered, 
"I  shall  go  to  God  with  my  sorrows." 

The  first  four  weeks  that  I  was  looking 
after  little  Tad  I  was  feeling  exceedingly 
anxious  about  my  boys,  and  the  president 
proposed  taking  me,  every  few  days,  to  the 
hospital,  that  I  might  report  to  him  how 
they  felt  when  near  death  and  what  they 
thought  of  the  future,  and  then  I  obtained 
permission  to  hold  a  prayer  meeting  in  my 
ward,  as  the  officers  had  strictly  forbidden 
any  one  to  read  or  pray  to  the  soldiers  on 
a  penalty  of  being  "dismissed  from  the  serv- 
ice"; and,  said  the  president,  "If  there  were 
more  praying  and  less  swearing  it  would  be 
better  for  our  country,  and  we  all  need  to  be 
prayed  for,  officers  as  well  as  privates,  and 
if  I  was  near  death  I  think  I  should  like  to 
hear  prayer." 

Mrs.  Pomeroy  also  records  that  Lincoln 
prayed  over  Vicksburg,  Gettysburg,  and  Port 
Huron. 

Said  I  to  this  great,  good  man:  "Mr. 
Lincoln,  prayer  will  do  what  nothing  else 
will;  can  you  not  pray?"  "Yes,  I  will,"  and 
while  the  tears  were  dropping  from  his  hag- 
gard and  worn  out  face  he  said:  "Pray  for 
me,"  and  he  went  to  his  room  and  could 
the  nation  have  heard  his  earnest  petition 
as  the  nurse  did  they  would  have  fallen  on 
their  knees  in  reverential  sympathy.  At  12 
o'clock  at  night  while  the  soldiers  were 
guarding  the  house  the  sentinel,  riding 
quickly,  halted  in  front  of  the  house  with 

38 


a  telegram,  and  that  was  carried  up  to  the 
president.  In  a  few  moments  after  the 
door  was  opened  and  the  president,  in  his 
night  clothes,  standing  under  the  chande- 
lier, with  one  of  the  sweetest  expressions  I 
ever  saw  him  wear,  said:  "Good  news! 
Good  news!  Port  Hudson  is  ours!  The  vic- 
tory is  ours  and  God  is  good!" 

Said  I  to  him:  "Nothing  like  prayer  in 
times  of  trouble." 

"Yes,  O  yes,  praise;  for  prayer  and  praise 
go  together." 

Lincoln  said  to  the  Rev.  Charles  Chini- 
quy,  "There  is  nothing  as  great  under 
heaven  as  to  be  an  ambassador  of  Christ." 
"I  see  no  other  safeguard  against  these 
murderers,  but  to  be  always  ready  to  die, 
as  Christ  advises  it." 

"When  I  consider  that  law  of  justice  and 
expiation  in  the  death  of  the  Just,  the  di- 
vine Son  of  Mary,  on  the  Mount  of  Cal- 
vary, I  remain  mute  in  my  adoration." 

Mr.  Noah  Brooks,  President  Lincoln's 
private  secretary,  writes  that  Lincoln  loved 
Thomas  Hood  and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 
for  their  pathos,  and  Longfellow's  "Psalm 
of  Life"  and  "The  Birds  of  Killengworth". 
He  was  an  admirer  of  such  philosophical 
works  as  Bishop  Butler's  "Analogy  of  Re- 
ligion," and  could  quote  the  exact  chapter 
and  verses  of  passages  of  the  Bible,  and 
freely  expressed  "his  hope  of  a  blessed  im- 
mortality through  Jesus  Christ." 

To  an  Illinois  clergyman  Lincoln  said  in 
1864,  "W^hen  I  left  Springfield,  I  asked  the 
people  to  pray  for  me;  I  was  not  a  Chris- 
tion.    When  I  buried  my  son,  the  severest 

39 


Authorities  Consulted: 
Aitken's  Boy's  Life  of  Lincoln;  Arnold's 
Lincoln;  Atkinson's  Boyhood  of  Lincoln; 
Baldwin's  Lincoln;  Bank's  Religious  Life  of 
Famous  Americans;  Barrett's  Lincoln; 
Binns'  Lincoln;  Brooks'  Lincoln  and  Youth 
of  Lincoln;  Brook's,  Eldridge,  True  Story 
of  Lincoln;  Browne's  Everyday  Life  of  Lin- 
coln; Bullard's  Tad  and  His  Father;  Bul- 
lock'sHeadlights;  Carpenter's  Inner  Life  of 
Lincoln;  Chittenden's  Recollections  of  Lin- 
coln; Coffin's  Lincoln;  Collis'  Religion  of 
Lincoln;  Creelman's  Why  We  Love  Lin- 
coln; Curtis'  True  A  Lincoln;  Dittenhoe- 
fer's  How  We  Elected  Lincoln;  French's 
Lincoln  the  Liberator;  Gilbert's  More  Than 
Conquerors;  Gilder's  Lincoln  the  Leader; 
Gordy's  Lincoln;  Gross*  Lincoln's  Own 
Stories;  Hamilton's  Lincoln;  Hapgood's 
Lincoln;  Hay's  Lincoln's  Faith;  Herndon's 
Lincoln;  Hill's  Lincoln  the  Lawyer;  Hillis' 
All  the  Year  Round;  Hitchcock's  Nancy 
Hanks;  Holland's  Lincoln;  Jackson's  Lin- 
coln's Use  of  the  Bible;  Jennings'  Lincoln; 
Johnson's  Lincoln  the  Christian;  Kellogg's 
Lincoln;  Kittredge's  Sermon  on  Lincoln; 
Lange's  Lincoln  d.  Wiederhersteller,  etc.; 
Lincoln's  Autobiography  to  Jesse  W.  Fell; 
"Literary  Digest,"  Nov.  27.  1909;  Mabie's 
Heroes;  McClure's  Lincoln;  Miller's  Por- 
trait Life  of  Lincoln;  Moores'  Lincoln; 
Nicolay's  Lincoln;  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lin- 
coln; Norton's  Lincoln  Lover  of  Mankind; 
Oldroyd's  Words  of  Lincoln;  "Outlook," 
Editorial,  Feb.  13,  1909;  Peters'  Lincoln's 
Religion;   Pillsbury's  Lincoln  and  Slavery; 

42 


Pomeroy,  Mrs.  Rebecca  R.,  in  "Watchman 
and  Reflector"  of  Boston;  Pratt's  Lincoln 
in  Story;  Putnam's  Lincoln;  Rankin's  Per- 
sonal Recoil,  of  Lincoln;  Rice's  Reminis- 
censes  of  Lincoln;  Richards'  Lincoln  the 
Lawyer — Statesman;  Schauffler's  Lincoln's 
Birthday  has  Tyler's  Religious  Character  of 
Lincoln  from  the  Homiletic  Review;  Stim- 
son's  Child's  Book  of  American  Biography; 
Strunsky's  Lincoln;  Tarbell's  Lincoln  and 
Early  Life  of  Lincoln;  Thompson's  Lin- 
coln; Watterson  in  "Cosmopolitan,"  March, 
1909;  Weik's  Lincoln  in  "Outlook,"  Feb.  13, 
1909;  Wettstein's  Was  Lincoln  an  Infidel?; 
Wheeler's  Lincoln;  Whipple's  Lincoln  and 
Heart  of  Lincoln;  Whitney's  Lincoln  the 
Citizen  and  Lincoln  the  President;  Whit- 
ney's Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln;  Wil- 
liams' Praise  of  Lincoln. 


43 


president  Garfield. 

"The  Evening  Star"  was  gliding  along  the 
Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  canal  one  rainy 
night  in  1847,  while  a  sleepy  boy  tended  the 
bowline,  which  suddenly  by  some  accident 
hurled  him  overboard  into  a  watery  grave, 
as  he  thought.  The  canal  boat  glided  on, 
no  human  help  was  nigh,  only  God  could 
save  that  boy  by  a  miracle.  As  he  went 
down  he  said  the  prayer  his  mother  had 
taught  him  and  clutched  at  the  rope.  Seiz- 
ing it,  hand  over  hand  he  drew  himself  up 
on  deck. 

"If  God  thinks  it  worth  while  saving  my 
life,  I'll  not  throw  it  away  on  a  canal  boat. 
I'll  go  home,  get  an  education,  and  become 
a  man." 

He  came  to  his  mother's  log  cabin  In  the 
Cuyahoga  wnlderness  late  at  night,  but  by 
the  fire-light  he  could  see  his  mother  on  her 
knees  before  an  open  Bible  on  a  chair  in  a 
corner  and  he  heard  her:  "O  turn  unto  me, 
and  have  mercy  upon  me;  give  Thy 
strength  unto  Thy  servant,  and  save  the  son 
of  Thine  handmaid."  Ps.  86:16.  He  opened 
the  door  and  rushed  into  his  mother's  arms. 

His  name?  Mrs.  Garfield  called  him  "My 
boy  Jimmie." 

He  attended  the  Geauga  Seminary  and 
lived  on  thirty-one  cents  a  week,  then  on 
fifty  cents,  later  he  boarded  for  $1.06  per 
week,   ond  worked  for   his  board. 

44 


During  the  winter  he  taught  school.  He 
went  to  Hiram  to  prepare  for  college  and 
swept  the  floor  and  rang  the  bell.  In  1850 
he  was  baptized  and  joined  the  Church  and 
often  preached.  He  studied  the  Greek  New 
Testament,  especially  Paul's  letter  to  the 
Romans,  and  most  especially  the  great 
eighth  chapter,  and  consulted  the  works  of 
the  German  theologians  De  Wette  and 
Tholuck. 

In  three  years  he  had  done  the  work  of 
six  years  and  entered  the  Junior  class  of 
Williams  College  in  Massachusetts. 

He  remarked  the  best  college  was  a  log 
with  Mark  Hopkins  at  one  end,  and  him- 
self at  the  other. 

He  was  very  German  in  looks,  but  he  did 
not  smoke  nor  drink.  He  took  German  as 
an  elective  and  read  Goethe  and  Schiller 
and  spoke  quite  fluently.  He  wrote  an 
essay  on  Karl  Theodor  Koerner.  His  re- 
ligious character  was  well  known,  and  his 
abilities  made  him  editor  of  the  Willia7ns 
Quarterly,  for  which  he  wrote  prose  and 
poetry.  "The  Providence  of  History"  is  the 
title  of  one  of  his  articles,  showing  God  is 
the  ruler  of  all  things. 

In  August,  1856,  he  was  graduated  with 
the  highest  class  honor. 

Later  he  became  President  of  his  college 
at  Hiram,  Ohio,  and  preached  a  brief  ser- 
mon every  Sunday  morning  to  his  students, 
in  order  to  strengthen  their  Christian  faith 
and  character.  His  last  sermon  was  on  the 
gloom  and  chill  cast  over  life  by  unbelief 
in     the     central     Christian     doctrines.       At 

45 


chapel     he     often     gave     out     his     favorite 
hymn — 

"Ho!    reapers  of  life's  harvest." 

He  married  Lucretia  Rudolph,  a  sweet 
girl  of  German  descent,  a  former  pupil. 

Even  in  later  years,  after  removing  from 
Hiram,  he  would  on  flying  visits  preach  in 
the  College  Chapel. 

His  neighbors  insisted  on  sending  him  to 
the  Legislature  at  Columbus. 

When  Governor  Dennison  offered  Gar- 
field the  lieutenant  colonelcy  of  the  Forty- 
second  Ohio  Regiment,  he  did  not  grasp  at 
the  glitter.  He  had  a  wife  and  a  child.  He 
opened  his  mother's  Bible  and  prayed  over 
it.  Then  he  wrote  a  friend:  "I  regard  my 
life  as  given  to  the  country.  I  am  only 
anxious  to  make  as  much  of  it  as  possible 
before  the  mortgage  on  it  is  foreclosed." 

Many  stories  are  told  of  the  way  Garfield 
carried  his  Christian  faith  into  the  army 
camp,  among  his  fellow  officers,  and  in  the 
command  of  his  troops.  After  a  battle  he 
would  go  among  the  wounded  and  dying 
and  talk  with  them  about  the  Christ  who 
alone  was  able  to  comfort  and  save  them. 

Garfield  rose  rapidly  in  the  army  and 
distinguished  himself  especially  at  the  bat- 
tle  of   Chickamauga. 

When  his  neighbors  wished  him  to  rep- 
resent them  in  Congress,  and  President  Lin- 
coln and  Secretary  Stanton  also  urged  him, 
he  consented,  though  at  a  great  financial 
sacrifice. 

46 


In  Washington  he  voted  according  to  his 
conscience,  though  for  a  time  it  made  him 
very  unpopular  among  the  home  folks.  He 
would  rather  be  right  than  popular.  He 
was  right  and  popular.  In  January,  1880,  he 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  to 
succeed  the  "Old  Roman,"  Allen  G.  Thur- 
man. 

Before  he  could  take  his  scat  as  Senator 
he  was  nominated  to  the  Presidency  over 
General  Grant  and  General  Sherman,  and 
elected. 

The  morning  after  Lincoln's  assassination 
a  great  crowd  gathered  in  front  of  the  Ex- 
change Building  in  New  York.  They  were 
stirred  to  riot,  vengeance  was  in  the  air. 
One  man  lay  dead,  another  was  dying.  The 
mob  began  to  cry  for  the  destruction  of  the 
World  office;  if  it  had  once  got  started, 
murder  and  ruin  would  have  spread  every- 
where. A  man  stepped  to  the  front,  waved 
a  telegram  above  the  excited  heads,  caught 
their  eyes  and  ears  by  shouting:  "Another 
telegram  from  Washington!"  Sudden 
silence. 

"Fellow  citizens!  Clouds  and  darkness 
are  round  about  Him.  His  pavilion  is  dark 
waters  and  thick  clouds  of  the  skies. 

Justice  and  judgment  are  the  establish- 
ment of  His  throne.  Mercy  and  truth  shall 
go  before  His  face.  Fellow  citizens!  God 
reigns,  and  the  Government  at  Washington 
still  lives!" 

The  surging  sea  was  still.  Men  asked 
the  name  of  the  man  who  had  worked  the 
wonder  with   the  words  from  God's   Bible, 

47 


and  those  who  knew  whispered:    "It  is  Gen- 
eral James  A.  Garfield,  of  Ohio." 

On  July  9,  1881,  on  his  way  to  the  Com- 
mencement at  Williams  College,  President 
Garfield  was  shot  in  the  Pennsylvania  sta- 
tion at  Washington  by  Charles  Jules 
Guiteau. 

"God's  will  be  done,  Doctor;  I'm  ready 
to  go  if  my  time  has  come."  He  died  on 
September  19. 

In  the  funeral  sermon  his  Pastor  spoke 
expressly  of  President  Garfield's  faith  in  the 
Son  of  God. 

One  of  his  favorite  hymns  was  sung — 
"Asleep  in  Jesus,  blessed  sleep." 

Authorities. 

Balch,    Bundy,    Brooks,    Banks,    Thayer, 

Hinsdale. 


48 


president  Ijari^ison. 

Benjamin  Harrison  was  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence. 

His  son,  William  Henry  Harrison,  was 
the  victor  of  Tippecanoe  on  Nov.  7,  1811, 
and  the  ninth  President  of  the  United  States 
in  1840. 

His  grandson,  Benjamin,  was  a  successful 
general  in  the  Civil  War  and  the  twenty- 
third  President  of  the  United  States,  de- 
feating President  Grover  Cleveland. 

General  Benjamin  Harrison  was  a  good 
member  of  the  Church,  and  an  officer,  in 
fact  he  "belonged"  to  the  Church. 

General  Harrison  overheard  a  young  man 
express  doubts  about  the  Bible  and  a  few 
evenings  later  knocj^ed  at  his  door.  The 
young  man  was  astonished  at  seeing  the 
most  distinguished  lawyer  in  Indiana.  The 
General  kindly  said  he  had  accidentally 
overheard  the  doubting  remarks  and  was 
interested  for  he  had  himself  formerly  been 
in  the  same  trouble.  But  he  had  thought 
the  matter  through  till  he  rested  his  faith 
on  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God  and  had 
proved  Jesus  Christ  as  a  personal  Savior. 
And  so  they  talked,  and  argued,  and  rea- 
soned, and  finally  all  difficulties  were 
cleared  away  and  the  young  man  with  deep 
feeling  confessed  his  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
When  General  Harrison  rose  to  leave  and 
looked  at  his  watch  it  was  several  hours 
past  midnight. 

49 


At  the  same  time  Harrison's  political 
friends  were  looking  for  him  to  counsel 
with  him  about  electing  him  to  the  United 
States  Senate. 

There  certainly  was  a  warm  heart  at  the 
right  spot  in  this  human  "refrigerator." 

Dr.  W.  C.  Gray,  editor  of  The  Interior, 
talked  to  Harrison  about  his  being  an  "ice- 
berg" while  he  was  a  United  States  Senator 
and  likely  President  of  the  United  States. 
"I  discovered  that  he  was  not  troubling 
himself  with  ambitious  aspirations,  that  at 
bottom  he  was  a  man  of  humble  spirit  and 
yet  of  a  self-respect  which  forbade  him  to 
be  a  courtier  even  to  the  American  people; 
and  though  his  heart  was  large  and  gener- 
ous, he  would  carry  it  in  his  bosom  and  not 
upon  his  sleeve.  Boy  or  man,  there  was  no 
haughtiness  in  him,  only  a  natural  reserve 
and  self-poise.  He  won  his  great  success 
without  the  compromise  of  a  hair's  breadth 
of  his  convictions  of  right  and  duty." 

President  Harrison  was  the  first  one  to 
bring  into  the  White  House  the  German 
Christmas  tree,  with  all  that  it  means.  That 
shows  he  had  no  ice  water  in  his  heart,  but 
good  warm  blood.  It  shows  that  he  was 
not  even  a   Puritan. 

I  saw  nothing  of  the  "kid-glove  Harrison" 
while  he  was  in  the  White  House.  At  a 
public  reception  he  greeted  me  with  a  very 
winsome  smile  and  the  most  muscular  hand- 
shake I  ever  experienced. 

Mr.  Harrison  often  took  part  in  the  dis- 
cussions in  the  General  Assembly  of  his 
church  and  was  on  the  committee  to  revise 

60 


the  Confession  of  Faith.  The  committee 
paid  this  tribute:  "His  appointment  as  a 
member  of  this  committee  was  made  at  a 
time  when  he  was  declining  high  public 
and  official  honors  and  when  he  was  deeply 
engaged  in  the  solution  of  questions  that 
affected  the  welfare  and  peace  of  nations; 
but  he  did  not  hesitate,  though  at  much 
personal  sacrifice,  to  respond  to  the  duty 
the  church  of  his  choice  and  love  had  laid 
upon  him." 

Harrison  was  greatly  interested  in  the 
missionary  work  of  the  church,  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  The  Ecumenical  Mis- 
sionary Conference  met  in  Carnegie  Hall, 
New  York  City,  on  April  21,  1900,  and  it 
remains  my  great  pleasure  to  have  seen  ex- 
President  Harrison  preside  and  to  have 
heard  him  speak  for  the  cause  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

To  the  2,500  aWe,  intelligent,  devoted 
missionaries  from  all  over  the  world  he  said 
in  the  remarkable  opening  speech  in  the 
afternoon:  "There  will  be,  I  hope,  much 
prayer  for  an  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit. 
.  .  .  Christ  in  the  heart  and  His  gospel  of 
love  and  ministry  in  all  the  activities  of  life 
are  the  only  cure" — for  the  ills  in  the 
world 

The  natural  man  lives  to  be  ministered 
unto — he  lays  his  imposts  upon  others.  He 
buys  slaves  that  they  may  fan  him  to  sleep, 
bring  him  the  jeweled  cup,  dance  before 
him,  and  die  in  the  arena  for  his  sport.  Into 
such  a  world  there  came  a  king,  'not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister.'  The 
rough  winds  fanned  his  sleep;    he  drank  of 


51 


the  mountain  brook  and  made  not  the  water 
wine  for  Himself;  He  would  not  use  His 
power  to  stay  His  own  hunger,  but  had 
compassion  on  the  multitude.  Them  that 
He  had  bought  with  a  great  price  He  called 
no  more  servants,  but  friends.  He  entered 
ihe  bloody  arena  alone,  and,  dying,  broke 
all  chains  and  brought  life  and  immortality 
to  light. 

Here  is  the  perfect  altruism;  here  the 
true  appraisal  of  men.  Ornaments  of  gold 
and  gems,  silken  robes,  houses,  lands,  stocks 
and  bonds — these  are  tare  when  men  are 
weighed.  Where  else  is  there  a  scale  so 
true?  Where  a  brotherhood  so  wide  and 
pel  feet?  Labor  is  made  noble — the  King 
credits  the  smallest  service:  His  values  are 
lelat.'ve;  He  takes  account  of  the  per  cent, 
when  tribute  is  brought  into  His  treasury. 
No  coin  of  love  is  base  or  small  to  Him. 
The  widow's  mite  He  sets  in  His  crown. 
Life  I'j  sweetened;  the  poor  man  becomes 
of  account.  Where  else  is  found  a  philos- 
ophy of  life  so  sweet  and  adaptable — a 
philosophy  of  death  so  comforting? 

After  President  McKinley  had  welcomed 
the  delegates  in  behalf  of  the  United  States, 
and  Governor  Roosevelt  in  behalf  of  New 
York,  Mr.  Harrison  in  his  response  made 
the  following  significant  statement:  "It  is, 
indeed,  in  and  out  of  this  sacred  Word  of 
God  that  a  system  of  morality  has  come 
that  makes  life  sweet  and  gives  to  it  possi- 
bilities that  would  otherwise  be  out  of 
thought.  It  is  reported  that  the  aged  Ger- 
man Chancellor,  Prince  Hohenlohe,  recent- 
ly said  as  he  looked  about  over  the  world, 

52 


its  struggles,  and  strifes,  and  distress,  and 
grief,  that  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  that  geo- 
logical era  had  returned  when  the  saurians, 
gigantic  monsters,  walked  the  earth  in  their 
devouring  forms.  He  was  addressing,  I 
think,  a  meeting  of  scholars,  and  he  turned 
to  scholarship  as  giving  him  hope  for  a 
world  that  seemed  to  be  greedy  for  the  de- 
struction of  its  own  members.  Ah!  my 
friends,  not  scholarship,  not  invention,  not 
any  of  these  noble  and  creditable  develop- 
ments of  our  era — not  to  these,  but  to  the 
Word  of  God  and  the  Church  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  must  we  turn  for  the  hope 
that  men  may  be  delivered  from  this  con- 
suming greed  and  selfishness.  .  .  . 

Do  we  count  the  growth  of  the  church 
by  our  membership  roll?  Has  the  Gospel 
done  nothing  more?  Ah,  think  for  a  mo- 
ment, my  friends.  If  you  can  blot  out  of 
your  statute  books,  out  of  your  institutions, 
out  of  your  code  of  morals,  out  of  your 
social  and  family  institutions  all  that  is  de- 
rived from  the  sacred  Book,  what  would 
there  be  left  to  bind  society  together?" 

At  the  closing  meeting  on  May  1,  Mr. 
Harrison  said:  "We  part  with  you  in  sor- 
row, and  yet  bitter  as  they  are,  the  Chris- 
tian partings  always  are  cheered  by  the 
promise  of  the  great  gathering  where  all 
who   love    the    Lord    shall    see    each    other 

again God  bless  you  all,  abide  with 

you  in  your  places,  strengthen  your  hearts, 
fill  them  with  the  converts  that  He  knows 
so  well  how  to  convert,  and  give  you  suc- 
cess in  your  devoted  efforts  to  make  known 
His  name  to  those  who  are  in  darkness." 


53 


While  attending  the  academy  at  Poland, 
Ohio,  William  McKinley  went  to  a  series  of 
services  held  by  the  Rev.  A.  D.  Morton  and 
one  evening  quietly  arose  and  said:  "Re- 
ligion seems  to  me  to  be  the  best  thing  in 
all  the  world;  here  I  take  my  stand  for 
life."  He  joined  the  church  and  was  an 
active  member  till  his  death. 

His  first  statement  after  becoming  a 
member  of  the  Church  was:  "I  have  found 
the  pearl  of  great  price."     Matth.  13:46. 

An  old  friend,  who  had  been  with  Mc- 
Kinley on  all  his  campaigns,  tells  us:  "I 
have  never  known  him  to  go  to  bed  until  he 
read  from  his  Bible  and  had  knelt  in 
prayer." 

Speaking  of  preaching,  McKinley  once 
said:  "I  like  to  hear  the  minister  preach 
the  plain,  simple  Gospel — Christ  and  Him 
crucified." 

A  very  bitter  political  opponent  of  Presi- 
dent McKinley  visited  the  church  the  Presi- 
dent attended  and  said:  "I  watched  the 
President.  I  watched  his  face  while  he 
sang;  I  gave  close  attention  to  his  coun- 
tenance and  attitude  during  all  the  opening 
service,  and  his  interest  in  the  earnest  words 
which  were  spoken  before  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered.  And 
after  a  while,  when  I  saw  William  McKinley 
get   up   from  his   place   and  go  and  kneel 

54 


down  at  the  altar,  humbly,  with  the  rest, 
and  reverently  take  the  communion,  and 
then,  when  he  arose,  quietly  wipe  away  the 
traces  of  emotion  from  his  eyes,  his  whole 
countenance  and  attitude  showing  the  deep- 
est religious  emotion,  I  confess  to  you  that 
I  felt  a  great  change  coming  over  myself, 
and  I  said  to  myself,  *A  country  which  has 
a  man  like  that  at  the  head  of  its  affairs  is 
not  so  badly  off,  after  all.' " 

On  May  26,  1899,  McKinley  wrote:  "My 
belief  embraces  the  divinity  of  Christ 
and  a  recognition  of  Christianity  as  the 
mightiest  factor  of  the  world's  civilization." 
"We  need  God  as  individuals  and  we  need 
him  as  a  people." 

President  McKinley  ran  up  from  Wash- 
ington to  New  York  in  order  to  welcome 
The  World's  Missionary  Congress  in  Car- 
negie Hall  in  the  evening  of  April  21,  1900. 
He  said:  "I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  to 
offer  without  stint  my  tribute  of  praise  and 
respect  to  the  missionary  effort  which  has 
wrought  such  wonderful  triumphs  for  civil- 
ization. The  story  of  the  Christian  mis- 
sions is  one  of  thrilling  interest  and  marvel- 
ous results.  The  services  and  the  sacrifices 
of  the  missionaries  for  their  fellow-men 
constitute  one  of  the  most  glorious  pages 
of  the  world's  history.  The  missionary  who 
devotes  his  life  to  the  service  of  the  Master 
and  of  men,  carrying  the  torch  of  truth  and 
enlightenment,  deserves  the  gratitude,  the 
support,  and  the  homage  of  mankind.  The 
noble,  self-effacing,  willing  ministers  of 
peace  and  good-will,  should  be  classed  with 
the  world's  heroes.  .  .  . 

55 


May  this  great  meeting  rekindle  the  spirit 
of  missionary  ardor  and  enthusiasm  'to  go 
teach  all  nations/  and  may  the  field  never 
lack  a  succession  of  heralds  who  shall  carry 
on  the  task — the  continuous  proclamation  of 
His  gospel  to  the  end  of  time!" 

"Don't  let  them  hurt  him,"  pleaded  the 
President  when  shot  at  Buffalo. 

When  McKinley  felt  his  life  slipping  away 
in  the  afternoon  he  asked  for  the  surgeons, 
and  they  gathered  about  him.  The  Presi- 
dent opened  his  eyes  and  said:  "It  is  use- 
less, gentlemen;  I  think  we  ought  to  have 
prayer."  As  the  surgeons  bowed  their 
heads,  the  dying  man  crossed  his  hands  on 
his  breast  and  prayed  in  a  steady  voice: 
"Our  Father,  which  are  in  heaven,  hallowed 
be  Thy  name.  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy 
will  be  done—"  the  sobbing  of  a  nurse  dis- 
turbed the  still  air.  "Thy  will  be  done  on 
earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven." — A  long  sigh — 
"Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread;  and  for- 
give us  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our  debtors; 
and  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver 
us  from  evil." — Another  silence. — "For 
Thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and 
the  glory,  forever.     Amen." 

"Amen,"  whispered  the  surgeons.  A  lit- 
tle later  the  President  was  conscious  again 
and  asked  for  his  wife.  As  she  reached  the 
side  of  her  husband  and  lover — who  had 
read  to  her  every  day  at  twilight  for  years 
from  the  Bible — she  sank  into  a  chair,  and, 
leaning  over  the  white  counterpane,  took 
his  hands  in  hers  and  kissed  them.  The 
President's  eyes  were  closed,  but  as  he  felt 

56 


the  touch  of  his  wife's  lips,  he  smiled. 
"Good-by!  Good-by,  all."— "It  is  God's  way. 
His  will,  not  ours,  be  done."  Again  he 
spoke:  "Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee"— "E'en 
though  it  be  a  cross" — a  moment  of  deep 
silence — "That  has  been  my  inextinguish- 
able prayer."  Then  very  faintly:  "It  is 
God's  way." 

So  passed  the  soul  of  President  William 
McKinley. 


67 


Robert  n.  Itee. 

General  Lee  was  accustomed  to  pray  in 
his  family  and  to  have  his  times  for  private 
prayer,  and  not  even  pressing  business  was 
allowed  to  interrupt  him.  He  was  a  diligent 
student  of  the  Bible;  even  during  his  most 
active  campaigns  he  found  time  every  day 
to  read  some  portion  of  God's  Word.  And 
he  was  active  in  spreading  the  Gospel 
among   others. 

The  genial  general  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy had  a  prayer-book  that  he  used 
ever  since  the  Mexican  War.  When  a 
friend  in  Richmond  gave  him  a  new  one, 
he  said  he  would  give  his  old  one  to  some 
soldier.  The  friend  offered  to  give  him  a 
dozen  new  ones  for  the  old.  Lee  gladly 
made  the  exchange,  wrote  on  the  flyleaf  of 
each,  "Presented  by  R.  E.  Lee,"  and  gave 
them  to  a  colporter  to  distribute. 

Riding  down  his  line  of  battle  with  a 
number  of  his  ofificers,  Lee  saw  some  sol- 
diers engaged  in  prayer.  Though  the  battle 
of  Mine  Run  in  March,  1863,  was  already 
beginning,  Lee  at  once  dismounted,  uncov- 
ered his  head,  and  devoutly  joined  in  the 
simple   worship. 

Crossing  the  James  to  defend  Petersburg 
in  1864,  Lee  turned  aside  from  the  road,  and 
kneeling  in  the  dust  devoutly  joined  a  min- 
ister in  earnest  prayer  that  God  would  grant 
him  wisdom  and  grace  for  his  campaign. 

58 


He  wrote  the  Rev.  T.  V.  Moore:  "I 
thank  you  especially  that  I  have  a  place  in 
your  prayers.  No  human  power  can  avail 
us  without  the  blessing  of  God." 

After  the  war  Lee  became  president  of 
Washington  College,  at  Lexington,  Va.,  and 
was  always  in  his  seat  in  the  chapel  unless 
sick,  and  a  regular  attendant  in  his  own 
church.  He  said:  "My  chief  concern  is  to 
try  to  be  a  humble,  earnest  Christian  my- 
self." And  he  showed  the  deepest  concern 
for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  young  men 
under  his  care.  He  said  to  a  pastor:  "I 
dread  the  thought  of  any  student  going 
away  from  the  college  without  becoming  a 
sincere  Christian."  And  to  another:  "I 
shall  be  disappointed,  sir — I  shall  fail  in  the 
leading  object  that  brought  me  here — unless 
these  young  men  become  real  Christians; 
and  I  wish  you  and  others  of  your  sacred 
profession  to  do  all  you  can  tt)  accomplish 
this." 

At  the  beginning  of  school  Lee  would 
write  an  autograph  letter  to  the  pastors  of 
Lexington  asking  them  to  induce  the  stu- 
dents to  attend  their  several  churches  and 
Bible  classes  and  to  consider  them  under 
their  pastoral  care.  And  he  would  often 
ask  a  pastor  about  the  spiritual  state  of  in- 
dividual students. 

In  1869  he  said:  "Our  great  want  is  a 
revival  which  will  bring  these  young  men 
to  Christ." 

When  a  large  number  of  students  of  the 
Virginia  Military  Institute  joined  the 
Church,   Lee   said  to  his   Pastor:     "That  is 

59 


the  best  news  I  have  heard  since  I  have 
been  in  Lexington.  Would  that  we  could 
have  such  a  revival  in  all  our  colleges!" 
Shortly  before  his  fatal  illness  Lee  said  to 
Professor  Kirkpatrick:  "If  I  could  only 
know  that  all  the  young  men  in  the  college 
were  good  Christians  I  should  have  nothing 
more  to  desire." 

Soon  after  coming  to  Lexington  Lee  ac- 
cepted the  presidency  of  the  "Rockbridge 
Bible  Society"  and  worked  for  it  till  his 
death. 

A  writer  of  Lee's  life  closes  his  summary 
of  his  religious  character  as  follows:  "If 
I  have  ever  come  in  contact  with  a  sincere, 
devout  Christian — one  who,  seeing  himself 
to  be  a  sinner,  trusted  alone  in  the  merits  of 
Christ,  who  humbly  tried  to  walk  the  path 
of  duty,  'looking  unto  Jesus'  as  the  author 
and  finisher  of  his  faith,  and  whose  piety 
constantly  exhibited  itself  in  his  daily  life — 
that  man  was  General  Robert  E.  Lee." 


60 


;Stoneiuan  ]|ack$on. 

Thomas  Jonathan  Jackson  was  born  Jan- 
uary 21,  1824,  at  Clarksburg,  West  Virginia. 
Losing  both  parents  when  he  was  very 
young,  he  grew  up  "wild  and  ungodly."  The 
gawky  youth  got  his  training  at  West  Point, 
the  United  States  Military  Academy. 

While  serving  with  the  artillery  in  Mex- 
ico, his  colonel,  Francis  Taylor,  spoke  to 
him  on  personal  religion,  and  Jackson  re- 
solved to  study  the  Bible  and  seek  all  the 
light  he  could. 

While  a  professor  at  the  Virginia  Military 
Institute  at  Lexington,  Jackson  joined  the 
Presbyterian  church,  making  a  public  pro- 
fession of  his  faith  in  Christ  on  November 
22,  1851.  He  became  a  deacon,  the  best  his 
pastor,  Dr.  White,-ever  had,  and  "reported 
for  orders"  to  his  pastor  as  his  superior 
officer. 

When  a  question  of  right  or  wrong  was 
raised,  he  would  say  pleasantly:  "Well,  I 
know  it  is  not  wrong  not  to  do  it,  so  I  am 
going  to  be  on  the  safe  side."  And  so  he 
gave  up  dancing,  theater-going,  and  every- 
thing that  lead  him  away  from  holy  things. 
Yet  his  religion  was  not  gloomy,  but  sun- 
shiny, the  happiest  man  Pastor  White  ever 
knew.  One  of  his  favorite  texts  was:  "We 
know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  God." 

He  wrote  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Neale:  "The 
subject  of  becoming  a  herald  of  the  Cross 

61 


has  often  seriously  engaged  my  attention, 
and  I  regard  it  as  the  most  noble  of  all  pro- 
fessions. It  was  the  profession  of  our 
divine  Redeemer,  and  I  should  not  be  sur- 
prised were  I  to  die  upon  a  foreign  field, 
clad  in  ministerial  armor,  fighting  under  the 
banner  of  Jesus.  What  could  be  more 
glorious?  It  was  not  to  be.  But  he  did 
what  he  could.  "My  heavenly  Father  has 
condescended  to  use  me  as  an  instrument 
in  getting  up  a  large  Sabbath  school  for 
the  negroes  here.  He  has  greatly  blessed  it, 
and,  I  trust,  all  who  are  connected  with  it" 

He  was  a  frequent  guest  at  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  gave  ten  per  cent,  of  his  income 
to  the  Lord's  work  and  held  regular  family 
worship.  He  would  not  neglect  the  small- 
est duty:  "One  instance  would  be  a  pre- 
cedent for  another,  and  thus  my  rules  would 
be  broken  down." 

Of  liquor  he  said:  "I  like  it;  I  always 
did;   and  that  is  the  reason  I  never  use  it.** 

Asked  his  understanding  of  the  Bible 
command  "to  pray  without  ceasing,"  he  an- 
swered: "I  can  give  you  my  idea  of  it  by 
illustration,  if  you  will  allow  it  and  not 
think  that  I  am  setting  myself  up  as  a  model 
for  others.  I  have  so  fixed  the  habit  in  my 
own  mind  that  I  never  raise  a  glass  of  water 
to  my  lips  without  lifting  my  heart  to  God 
in  thanks  and  prayer  for  the  water  of  life. 
Then,  when  we  take  our  meals,  there  is  the 
grace.  Whenever  I  drop  a  letter  in  the 
post-office,  I  send  a  petition  along  with  it 
for  God's  blessing  upon  its  mission  and  the 
person  to  whom  it  is  sent.  When  I  break 
the  seal  of  a  letter  just  received,  I  stop  to 

62 


ask  God  to  prepare  me  for  its  contents  and 
make  it  a  messenger  of  good.  When  I  go  to 
my  class  room  and  await  the  arrangement 
of  the  cadets  in  their  places,  that  is  the 
time  to  intercede  with  God  for  them.  And 
so  in  every  act  of  the  day  I  had  made  the 
practice  habitual." 

When  the  Pastor  urged  his  flock  to  bet- 
ter attendance  at  the  prayer  meeting  the 
officers  to  lead  in  prayer,  Major  Jackson 
called  to  say  he  had  not  been  used  to  public 
speaking  and  feared  an  effort  might  prove 
anything  but  edifying  to  the  people,  "But 
you  are  my  pastor,  and  the  spiritual  guide 
of  the  church;  and  if  you  think  it  my  duty, 
then  I  shall  waive  my  reluctance  and  make 
the  effort  to  lead  in  prayer,  however  pain- 
ful it  may  be." 

The  effort  was  made,  and  it  was  almost  as 
gainful  to  the  people  as  to  Jackson  himself. 

The  pastor  did  ndt  again  call  on  Jackson 
to  lead  in  prayer.  After  some  weeks  Jack- 
son again  called  on  the  pastor  to  know  the 
reason.  The  pastor  said  he  wished  to  spare 
Jackson's   feelings. 

"Yes,  but  my  comfort  or  discomfort  is  not 
the  question;  if  it  is  my  duty  to  lead  in 
prayer,  then  I  must  persevere  in  it  until  I 
learn  to  do  it  aright;  and  I  wish  you  to 
discard  all   consideration   for   my  feelings." 

He  was  called  on  again,  and  he  did  better, 
and  in  time  he  could  pray  in  public  as  freely 
as  in  his  family. 

Jackson  hoped  and  prayed  for  peace,  but 
the  great  Civil  W^ar  broke  out.  The  morn- 
ing he  was  to  leave  he  called  for  his  pastor 

63 


to  come  to  the  barracks  and  offer  a  prayer 
with  the  regiment.  Then  he  went  home, 
opened  his  Bible,  and  read — "We  know  that 
if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were 
dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens."  Then  he  knelt  down  beside  his 
wife  and  committed  himself  and  her  to  the 
care  of  his  heavenly  Father. 

To  a  colporter  of  religious  books  he  said: 
"You  are  more  than  welcome  to  my  camp, 
and  I  shall  be  delighted  to  do  what  I  can  to 
promote  your  work.  I  am  more  anxious 
than  I  can  tell  you  that  my  men  shall  be 
good  soldiers  of  the  Cross." 

Jackson  prayed  for  the  soul  of  John 
Brown  and  hoped  he  would  be  saved. 

Jackson  feared  God,  and  he  feared  noth- 
ing else.  When  the  Confederates  were  fall- 
ing back  at  Bull  Run,  or  Manassas,  General 
Bee  rallied  his  men  by  calling  out:  "Look 
at  Jackson!  There  he  stands  like  a  stone 
wall!"  That  made  Jackson  famous  in  the 
South,  and  in  the  North,  and  in  History. 

In  his  later  years  he  read  nothing  but  the 
Bible  and  the  Campaigns  of  Napoleon,  and 
Lord  Roberts  thought  that  a  very  good  se- 
lection for  a  soldier, 

Cooke  writes  Jackson  never  failed  in  go- 
ing into  battle  on  bended  knee  to  raise  his 
heart  to  God  for  help. 

A  few  days  before  the  battle  of  Chancel- 
lorsville  he  led  a  prayer-meeting  for  his  sol- 
diers. One  writes:  "I  shall  never  forget 
that  meeting,  The  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  sweet  songs  of  praise,  the  simple,  earn- 


64 


est,  practical  talk,  the  tender,  appropriate, 
fervent  prayer  of  the  great  soldier  will 
linger  in  my  memory  through  life,  and  will 
be  recalled,  I  doubt  not,  when  I  meet  him 
on  the  brighter  shore." 

During  the  night  of  the  battle  of  Chan- 
cellorsville  his  own  soldiers  mistook  Jack- 
son for  an  enemy  and  wounded  him.  When 
his  wife  told  him  he  must  die,  he  said: 
"Very  good,  very  good;    it  is  allright." 

The  great  English  soldier,  Lord  Roberts, 
told  our  Irvin  S.  Cobb  and  John  T.  Mc- 
Cutcheon  he  thought  that  Stonewall  Jack- 
son was  America's  greatest  general,  and 
that  as  a  campaigner  he  had  no  superior. 

Authorities. 

Arnold,  Banks,  Cooke,  Henderson,  Hovey, 
Mrs.  Jackson. 


66 


Ijenry  Clay. 

Henry  Clay  in  his  young  days  played' 
cards  in  society,  but  even  then  never  al- 
lowed a  deck  in  his  own  house.  He  also 
fought  a  duel  with  Humphrey  Marshall,  of 
Kentucky,  and  one  with  John  Randolph,  of 
Roanoke. 

In  later  life  he  repented  of  the  sins  of 
his  youth,  accepted  Christ  as  his  Savior, 
was  baptized,  made  a  public  profession  of 
his  faith,  and  joined  the  Church. 

"I  would  rather  be  right  than  be  Presi- 
dent"— that  was  the  key  to  his  character. 

By  his  words  and  by  his  life  he  showed 
his  belief  in  the  Bible,  his  reverence  for 
Christian  institutions,  and  for  the  Divine 
Will.  He  was  a  habitual  attendant  on  the 
public  services  of  religion. 

After  the  Presidential  election  of  1844 
Clay's  political  sun  set,  and  the  future 
looked  dark,  but  one  Sunday  evening  he 
said  to  two  friends  at  his  fireside,  pointing 
to  the  Bible  on  the  table:  "Gentlemen,  I 
do  not  know  anything  but  that  Book  that 
can  reconcile  us  to  such  events." 

In  1845  Clay  was  made  a  member  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  and  he 
said:  "I  request  you  to  communicate  to 
them  my  grateful  acknowledgments  for  this 
distinguished  proof  of  their  highly  appre- 
ciated esteem  and  regard  and  to  assure  them 
that  I  share  with  them  a  profound  sense  of 

66 


the  surpassing  importance  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  believing,  as  I  sincerely  do, 
in  its  truth,  I  hope  and  trust  that  their  laud- 
able endeavors  to  promote  and  advance  its 
cause  may  be  crowned  with  signal  success." 

John  C.  Breckinridge  told  the  House  of 
Representatives  on  the  death  of  Clay:  "His 
pathway  to  the  grave  was  brightened  by 
the  immortal  hope  which  springs  from 
Christian  faith.  ...  He  said:  'I  have  abid- 
ing trust  in  the  merits  and  mediation  of  our 
Savior.'  " 

Rev.  Dr.  Butler,  Chaplain  of  the  Senate, 
delivered  the  funeral  sermon  before  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  the  chief 
officers  of  the  Government,  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  and  the  Congress,  and  said,  in  part: 
"He  averred  to  me  his  full  faith  in  the  great 
leading  doctrines  of  the  Gospel — the  fall 
and  sinfulness  of  man,  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  the  reality,  and  necessity  of  the 
atonement,  the  need  of  being  born  again  by 
the  Spirit,  and  salvation  through  faith  in 
the  crucified  Redeemer.  His  own  personal 
hopes  of  salvation  he  ever  and  distinctly 
based  on  the  promises  and  the  grace  of 
Christ.  Strikingly  perceptible  on  his 
natural  impetuous  and  impatient  character 
was  the  influence  of  grace  in  producing  sub- 
mission and  'patient  waiting  for  Christ'  and 
for  death.  ...  I  administered  to  him  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  ...  He 
joined  in  the  blessed  sacrament  with  great 

feeling    and    solemnity He    grew    in 

grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord 
and  Savior  Jesus  Christ." 


67 


;5amurt  ;9Fmlev  Bre^se  jftopse. 

1791-1872. 

Professor  Morse  publicly  professed  his 
faith  in  Christ  when  a  boy  in  his  father's 
church  and  remained  a  Christian  in  creed 
and  deed  till  death.  The  Bible  was  the  rule 
of  his  life,  and  he  was  always  known  for  a 
Christian  whether  he  was  in  London,  Paris, 
Dresden,  Washington,  or  Poughkeepsie, 
N.  Y.,  his  home. 

He  helped  to  support  himself  at  school 
by  painting  miniatures  on  ivory  for  five 
dollars  and  profiles  for  one  dollar. 

Later  he  turned  to  science,  to  the  tele- 
graph. Congress  refused  aid,  Europe  re- 
fused aid,  four  years  of  dire  poverty  almost 
drove  him  to  despair.  In  1843  Congress 
voted  $30,000  to  develop  his  invention. 

"What  hath  God  wrought!"  Numbers 
23:23,  was  the  first  message  ever  sent  over 
the  telegraph  from  the  Supreme  Court 
rooms  in  Washington  to  Baltimore  on  May 
24,  1844.  This  message  shows  the  Christian 
character  of  Professor  Morse,  the  great 
American  inventor. 

"It  baptized  the  American  telegraph  with 
the  name  of  its  Author."  Yes,  God  was  the 
real  author.  And  the  grateful  servant  of 
God  gladly  gave  the  first  earnings  of  the 
telegraph  as  a  sort  of  first-fruits  to  the 
Church.  Few  men,  we  are  told,  have  given 
more  in  proportion  to  further  the  cause  of 

68 


Christ.  As  money  flowed  in,  so  he  gave 
out;  gave  liberally  to  colleges,  theological 
seminaries,  mission  treasuries,  and  other  re- 
ligious causes. 

Being  a  truly  great  man  of  science,  he 
was  a  humble  believer  in  God  and  a  devout 
searcher  for  Him  and  finder  of  Him.  Point- 
ing one  day  to  an  insect's  wing,  he  said: 
"There,  that  is  enough  of  itself  to  satisfy 
any  reasonable  mind  of  God's  being,  wis- 
dom, and  power.  It  is  in  these  things  which 
we  call  small  that  I  am  finding  every  day 
fresh  proofs  of  God's  direct  and  positive 
agency.  I  see  in  all  these  things  God's 
finger,  and  I  am  so  glad  through  them  to 
get  hold  of  God's  hand;  and  then,  if  God 
makes  all  these  small  things  around  us  here 
so  exquisitely  beautiful,  what  grandeur 
must  attach  to  the  things  beyond,  unseen 
and  eternal!" 

All  the  world  showered  honors  upon  him, 
as  never  before  upon  an  American,  but  the 
great  scientist  smiled  significantly  and  said 
seriously:  "It  is  all  of  God.  He  has  used 
me  as  His  hand  in  all  this.  I  am  not  in- 
different to  the  rewards  of  earth  and  the 
praise  of  my  fellow-men,  but  I  am  more 
pleased  with  the  fact  that  my  Father  in 
heaven  has  allowed  me  to  do  something 
for  Him  and  His  world." 

Again,  with  brimming  eyes  and  jubilant 
voice:  "I  have  just  heard  of  a  family  made 
happy  by  a  telegraphic  dispatch  from  one 
of  its  absent  members,  announcing  his  safe- 
ty, when  the  whole  household  was  in  grief 
over  his  supposed  death;    only  think  of  the 

69 


many  homes   that  may  be   thus   gladdened, 
relieved  from  solitude  and  pain!" 

In  1868  he  wrote  from  Dresden  to  his 
grandson:  "The  nearer  I  approach  to  the 
end  of  my  pilgrimage,  the  clearer  is  the 
evidence  of  the  divine  origin  of  the  Bible; 
the  grandeur  and  sublimity  of  God's  rem- 
edy for  fallen  man  are  more  appreciated, 
and  the  future  is  illumined  with  hope  and 
joy." 

On  March  4,  1868,  he  wrote  his  brother 
from  Paris:  "It  cannot  be  long  before  all 
this  will  be  gone.  I  feel  daily  the  necessity 
of  sitting  looser  to  the  world  and  taking 
stronger  hold  on  heaven.  The  Savior  daily 
seems  more  precious;  His  love.  His  atone- 
ment, His  divine  power  are  themes  which 
occupy  my  mind  in  the  wakeful  hours  of 
the  night  and  change  the  time  of  'watching 
for  the  morning'  from  irksomeness  to  joy- 
ful communion  with  Him." 

His  last  public  act  was  the  unveiling  of 
the  statue  of  Benjamin  Franklin  in  Printing 
House  Square  in  New  York  City. 

From  his  window  at  Poughkeepsie  he 
overlooked  the  beautiful  Hudson  River,  and 
said:  "I  have  been  looking  over  the  river 
of  my  life.  I  thank  God  that  it  had  such 
a  beginning,  that  upon  it  has  fallen  such  a 
sunshine;  and  I  know  Whom  I  have  be- 
lieved and  rejoice  that  so  soon  this  river 
will  flow  out  into  the  broad  sea  of  an  ever- 
lasting love." 

"I  love  to  be  studying  the  guide-book  of 
the  country  to  which  I  am  going;  I  wish 
to  know   more   and   more  about  it." 


At  the  close  of  a  communion  service  he 
said  joyfully  to  his  Pastor:  "O,  this  is 
something  better  than  standing  before 
princes." 

A  few  days  before  Morse  died,  the  Pas- 
tor spoke  to  him  of  God's  great  goodness — 
"Yes,  so  good,  so  good;  and  the  best  part 
of  all  is  yet  to  come," 

He  died  April  2,  1872. 


71 


Cvrus  UDest  ilFirtd. 

1819-1892. 

Cyrus  Field  was  born  at  Stockbridge, 
Mass.,  whence  come  our  Stockbridge  In- 
dians in  Wisconsin.  His  father  was  min- 
ister. His  brother  Stephen  became  a  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
His  brother  David  became  a  prominent 
lawyer.  His  brother  Henry  became  a 
famous   editor  of  a  religious  paper. 

At  fifteen  he  became  an  errand  boy  in  the 
store  of  A.  T.  Stewart,  now  Wanamaker's, 
in  New  York  City. 

He  wrote  his  mother:  "Tell  father  that 
I  have  read  through  The  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress which  he  gave  me  when  at  home,  and 
that  I  like  it  very  much;  and  also  that 
Goodrich  and  myself  take  turns  in  reading 
a  chapter  in  the  Bible  every  night  before 
we  go  to  bed." 

Later  he  set  up  in  business  and  failed. 
He  tried  again  and  prospered  and  paid  his 
creditors  in  full  with  seven  per  cent,  in- 
terest for  the  ten  years  that  had  passed. 

When  he  was  thirty-three  years  old  he 
retired  from  business  with  a  fortune  of  a 
quarter  of  a  million. 

In  1842  Morse  had  laid  a  little  submarine 
cable  in  New  York  Harbor — why  not  lay 
one  to  Europe? 

In  1854  Field  organized  a  little  company, 
of  which   Peter  Cooper  was  the  president, 


but  Field  the  whole  works;    Thackeray  and 
Lady  Byron  were  stockholders. 

In  1857  he  tried  to  lay  the  cable  and  failed. 
In  1858  he  again  tried,  and  again  failed, 
tried  again  and  failed  again,  tried  again  and 
failed  again;  two  hundred  miles  was  the 
greatest  length  laid. 

He  tried  again  and  succeeded.  On  August 
16,  1858,  Queen  Victoria  sent  the  first  cable 
message  to  President  Buchanan. 

"By  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence  it 
has  succeeded,"  was  in  his  first  message  to 
the  Associated  Press. 

Bells  were  rung,  guns  fired;  children,  let 
out  of  school,  shouted,  "The  cable  is  laid! 
The  cable  is  laid!"  In  the  celebration  the 
New  York  City  Hall  was  set  afire. 

Soon  the  cable  broke;  the  firm  failed, 
Field  was  almost  bankrupt.  Bankrupt  in 
money,  not  bankrupt  in  faith.  He  prayed 
and  asked  his  Pastor  to  pray  for  him. 

The  Great  Eastern,  the  largest  steamship 
afloat,  built  by  Brunei,  was  chartered,  and 
in  1865  Field  tried  again.  Again  the  cable 
broke.  In  1866  he  tried  again — "Thank 
God,  the  cable  has  been  successfully  laid 
and  is  in  perfect  working  order,"  he  tele- 
graphed his  wife. 

The  laying  of  the  first  Atlantic  cable  is 
the  unrivaled  romance  of  modern  commer- 
cial undertakings.  Field's  "virtue  is  writ  in 
water,"  in  a  new  sense. 

John  Bright,  the  great  English  statesman, 
called  Field  "the  Columbus  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century."  Evarts,  the  great  Amer- 
ican statesman,  said:    "Columbus  found  one 


world  and  left  it  two.  Cyrus  W.  Field 
found  two  continents  and  left  them  one." 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  made  a  splendid  ora- 
tion at  the  celebration  in  Fishkill  and  Whit- 
tier  wrote  his  noble  "Cable  Hymn." 

At  a  banquet  Field  said:  "I  have  prayed 
God  that  I  might  not  taste  of  death  till  this 
work  was  accomplished.  That  prayer  is 
answered  now,  beyond  all  acknowledgments 
to  m.en,  is  the  feeling  of  gratitude  to  Al- 
mighty God." 

Field  was  also  one  of  the  builders  of  the 
elevated  road  of  New  York  City  and  of  the 
Wabash  railroad. 

When  Field  and  his  wife  celebrated  their 
golden  wedding  on  December  2,  1890,  words 
of  greeting  and  good  will  came  from  all 
over  the  world,  from  Gladstone,  Canon 
Farrar,  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  and  others,  and 
Henry  Morton,  President  of  the  Stevens 
Institute,  read  a  beautiful  poem. 

Business  troubles  clouded  Field's  last 
days,  and  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  gave  financial 
aid. 

Where  stood  the  Dutch  fort  against  the 
Indians,  the  British  Fort  George,  the  head- 
quarters of  General  Putnam  of  the  first 
American  garrison  of  New  York,  the  leaden 
equestrian  statue  of  King  George  III.  pulled 
down  during  the  Revolution,  there  Field 
erected  the  Washington  Building,  No.  1 
Broadway. 


74 


EUsha  Kent  Kane. 

The  famous  Arctic  explorer  was  born  and 
baptized  in  Philadelphia,  where  his  parents 
were  honored  members  of  the  Church,  He 
was  educated  at  the  University  of  Virginia. 
He  was  a  wild,  ungovernable  dare  devil. 

When  eighteen  he  was  stricken  with  a 
severe  and  long  heart  disease.  "This  was 
the  period  of  a  new  birth  to  him."  From 
now  on  he  was  "governed  by  sound  and 
thorough  moral  principle,  and  sanctified  by 
the  influences  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible, 
which  reveals  and  offers  to  us  Jesus  the 
Christ  of  God  as  in  all  things  a  Savior," 

When  Lady  Franklin  appealed  to  Presi- 
dent Taylor  in  1850  to  send  out  an  expedi- 
tion to  search  for  Sir  John,  Elisha  Kent 
Kane,  thirty  years  old,  was  sent. 

Before  setting  out  on  his  second  Arctic 
expedition,  Kane  laid  down  three  rules — 1. 
Strict  obedience.  2.  Total  abstinence  from 
intoxicants.  3.  Daily  devout  worship  of 
God  in  all  circumstances. 

He  asked  for  public  prayer  in  one  of  the 
New  York  churches  for  the  well-being  of 
the  crew  and  the  prosperity  of  the  enter- 
prise. On  his  return  from  his  last  voyage 
he  asked  his  Pastor  in  Philadelphia  to  make 
public  thanksgiving  for  the  deliverance  of 
his  party  from  all  their  perils. 

In  the  Journal  of  his  second  Arctic 
voyage  we  find  this:  "It  is  twelve  months 
today  since  I  returned  from  the  weary  foot- 
tramp  which  determined  me  to  try  the  win- 
ter search.   Things  have  changed  since  then. 


and  the  prospect  ahead  is  less  cheery.  But 
I  close  my  pilgrim  experience  of  the  year 
with  devout  gratitude  for  the  blessings  it 
has  registered  and  an  earnest  faith  in  the 
support  it  pledges  for  the  times  to  come." 

The  Christian  heroism  of  Dr.  Kane  served 
him  for  his  own  great  trials  and  made  itself 
felt  in  every  man  in  his  party  and  kept  them 
from  despair.  One  of  them  said:  "It  kept 
us  human  when  we  were  nearly  desperate. 
While  we  stood  with  uncovered  heads  in  an 
atmosphere  far  below  zero,  his  prayers 
brought  up  the  spirit  of  society  and  civiliza- 
tion in  us;  and  although  we  perhaps  had 
very  little  religion  in  us,  we  always  had 
some  about  us." 

At  the  last  his  mother  and  his  brothers 
were  with  him.  He  asked  them  to  read  the 
Beatitudes,  the  Twenty-third  Psalm,  and 
John  Fourteen,  and  while  they  were  read- 
ing, his  spirit  was  leaving.  He  died  in 
Havana,  Cuba,  on  February  16,  1857,  thirty- 
seven  years  old. 

His  Pastor  said:  "It  is  his  sympathy  with 
the  lost  and  suffering  and  the  duteous  con- 
viction that  it  may  lie  in  his  power  to  lib- 
erate them  from  their  icy  dungeon  which 
thrill  his  heart  and  nerve  him  to  his  hard 
task.  In  his  avowed  aim  the  interests  of 
geography  were  to  be  subordinate  to  the 
claims  of  humanity.  And  neither  the  en- 
treaties of  affection  nor  the  imperiling  of  a 
fame  which  to  a  less  modest  spirit  would 
have  seemed  too  precious  to  hazard  could 
swerve  him  from  the  generous  purpose." 

"Are  not  the  Arctic  explorations  a  Chris- 
tian Iliad,  and  is  not  our  Achilles  nobler 
than  Thetis'  son?" 

76 


UDiniam  Cullen  Bryant. 

"I  naturally  acquired  habits  of  devotion. 
My  mother  and  grandmother  had  taught 
me,  as  soon  as  I  could  speak,  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  other  petitions  suited  to  child- 
hood, and  I  may  be  said  to  have  been 
nurtured  on  Watts'  devout  poems  composed 
for  children.  The  prayer  of  the  Publican 
in  the  New  Testament  was  often  in  my 
mouth,  and  I  heard  every  variety  of  prayer 
at  the  Sunday  evening  services  conducted 
by  laymen  in  private  houses." 

When  only  ten,  he  put  the  first  chapter 
of  Job  into  rhyme.  "Thanatopsis"  was  writ- 
ten when  he  was  seventeen;  it  is  one  of  the 
great  poems  of  the  age. 

For  almost  fifty  years  he  was  the  chief 
editor  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  and 
made  it  a  very  high  class  paper. 

In  1858  William  Cullen  Bryant  was  living 
with  his  family  at  Naples,  where  his  wife 
was  seriously  ill  for  a  long  time.  On  April 
24  he  was  baptized  and  received  the  Holy 
Communion;  he  was  then  sixty-four  years 
of  age. 

In  the  evening  he  would  read  the  Book 
of  Prayers  or  some  other  religious  matters. 
On  Sunday  mornings  he  would  read  prayers 
and  a  chapter  from  the  Bible.  When  kept 
from  Church  on  Sunday  evenings  he  would 
read  a  sermon  aloud. 

At  Roslyn,  his  country  home  on  Long 
Island,  he  was  a  trustee  of  the  church.  In 
New  York  City  he  attended  the  successive 

77 


pastorates  of  Drs.  Dewey,  Osgood,  and  Bel- 
lows. Mr.  John  Bigelow,  who  wrote  his 
life  in  the  "American  Men  of  Letters"  de- 
clares: "No  one  ever  recognized  more  com- 
pletely or  more  devoutly  the  divinity  of 
Christ." 

One  of  the  last  things  this  great  Amer- 
ican poet  wrote  w^as  a  preface  to  Alden's 
"Thoughts  on  the  Religious  Life,"  in  which 
he  says: 

"This  character,  of  which  Christ  was  the 
perfect  model,  is  in  itself  so  attractive,  so 
'altogether  lovely,'  that  I  cannot  describe 
in  language  the  admiration  with  which  I 
regard  it;  nor  can  I  express  the  gratitude 
I  feel  for  the  dispensation  which  bestowed 
that  example  on  mankind,  for  the  truths 
which  he  taught  and  the  sufferings  he  en- 
dured for  our  sakes.  I  tremble  to  think 
what  the  world  would  be  without  him.  Take 
away  the  blessing  of  the  advent  of  his  life 
and  the  blessings  purchased  by  his  death, 
in  what  an  abyss  of  guilt  would  man  have 
been  left?  It  would  seem  to  have  been 
blotting  the  sun  from  the  heavens — to  leave 
our  system  of  worlds  in  chaos,  frost,  and 
darkness. 

In  my  view  of  the  life,  the  teachings,  the 
labors,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  blessed 
Jesus  there  can  be  no  admiration  too  pro- 
found, no  love  of  which  the  human  heart 
is  capable  too  warm,  no  gratitude  too  earn- 
est and  deep,  of  which  he  is  justly  the  ob- 
ject. It  is  with  sorrow  that  my  love  for 
him  is  so  cold  and  my  gratitude  so  in- 
adequate." 

He  died  June  12,  1878. 

78 


UDashinston  Ht^uing. 

The  parents  of  this  famous  American  au- 
thor were  Scotch  Covenanters.  His  father 
was  a  deacon  and  tried  to  bring  up  his  chil- 
dren in  sound  religious  principles.  One  of 
the  two  weekly  half-holidays  was  given  over 
to  the  catechism;  on  Sundays  there  were 
three  church  services,  and  between  these 
the  reading  of  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

Later  young  Irving  attended  Trinity 
Church  in  Broadway,  and  one  Sunday  he 
entered  as  the  solemn  call  to  confession  was 
read,  and  the  thought  struck  him  that  he, 
too,  had  sins  to  confess,  and  so  he  fell  on 
his  knees  and  joined  in  the  humble  con- 
fession of  sins;  and  from  that  day  on,  until 
the  end  of  his  life,  the  church  service  was 
a  growing  source  pf  comfort  to  him. 

After  his  return  from  Spain  as  United 
States  Minister,  he  was  elected  warden  of 
the  church  and  as  such  he  gathered  the 
offerings.  He  said,  his  eyes  twinkling  with 
humor:  "I  have  passed  that  plate  so  often 
up  and  down  the  aisle  that  I  begin  to  feel 
like  a  highwayman.  I  feel  as  if  I  could  stop 
a  man  on  the  road  and  say,  'Your  money  or 
your  life!'" 

Referring  to  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis, 
"Glory  be  to  God  on  high,"  he  said  with 
emotion:  "That  is  religion,  that  is  true  re- 
ligion for  you.  I  never  hear  the  hymn  with- 
out having  my  mind  lifted  up  and  my  heart 
made  better  for  it." 

79 


Bishop  Wainwright  printed  a  sermon  on 
"My  son,  give  me  thine  heart,"  the  text  sug- 
gested by  Washington  Irving,  and  he  said: 
"Religion  is  of  the  heart,  not  of  the  head. 
We  may,  with  the  understanding,  approach 
the  vestibule  of  the  Temple;  but  it  is  only 
with  the  heart  that  we  can  enter  its  holy 
precincts   and   draw  near  its   sacred  altar." 

Irving  brought  a  cutting  of  the  vine  from 
the  ruins  of  Melrose  Abbey  in  Scotland  and 
planted  it  at  his  beautiful  and  historic 
Sunnyside,  and  from  this  he  planted  a  cut- 
ting at  Christ  Church  in  Tarrytown.  In  the 
church,  above  his  pew,  you  will  find  a  tablet 
with  this  inscription: — 

Washington   Irving, 
Born  in  the  City  of  New  York,  April  3,  1783. 

For  many  years  a  Communicant  and 
Warden  of  the  Church,  and  Respectfully 
one  of  its  Delegates  to  the  Convention  of 
the  Diocese. 

Loved,  honored,  revered,  he  fell  asleep  in 

Jesus  March  28,  1859. 


80 


BanUl  UDebster. 

1782-1852. 


Daniel  Webster  read  the  Bible  as  far  back 
as  he  could  remember.  Rufus  Choate  be- 
fore the  Boston  Bar  referred  to  the  "train- 
ing of  the  giant  infancy  on  Catechism,  and 
Bible,  and  Watts'  version  of  the  Psalms." 

In  his  boyhood  Webster  joined  the 
Church  in  Salisbury,  N.  H.  When  he  moved 
to  Portsmouth  he  took  his  church  letter. 
At  Boston  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
St.  Paul's  Church  in  Tremont  St.,  and  a 
member  of  the  building  committee.  He  had 
pew   No.   25   and  was   a  regular  attendant. 

While  staying  at  John  Taylor's,  in  New 
Hampshire,  he  attended  the  little  village 
church  morning  and  evening.  A  visiting 
Senator  said:  "Mr.  V/ebster,  I  am  sur- 
prised that  you  go  twice  on  Sunday  to  hear 
a  plain  country  preacher  when  you  pay  lit- 
tle attention  to  far  abler  sermons  in  Wash- 
ington." 

"In  Washington  they  preach  to  Daniel 
Webster,  the  statesman;  but  this  man  has 
been  telling  Daniel  Webster,  the  sinner,  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  it  has  been  helping 
him." 

Good  preacher!     Sensible  Webster! 

At  the  completion  of  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment on  June  17,  1843,  the  great  orator  said 
that  the  Reformation  of  Luther  introduced 

81 


the  principles  of  religious  and  civil  liberty 
into   the   wilderness   of  North   America. 

He  said: 

"The  circle  of  family  love  must  one  day 
be  broken  up  by  death;  but  if  its  members 
are  led  to  become  Christians,  it  will  be 
joined  again,  and  united  to  the  great  family 
of  the  redeemed  and  blessed  in  another 
world."— Works,  vol.  16,  p.  682. 

"The  Gospel  is  true  history.  Christ  was 
what  He  professed  to  be." 

"I  want  to  leave  somewhere  a  declaration 
of  my  belief  in  Christianity.  ...  I  wish  to 
express  my  belief  in  His  divine  mission." 

He  talked  of  writing  a  book  on  Chris- 
tianity. 

Again  he  said:  "I  have  met  with  men  in 
my  time,  accounted  learned  scholars — who 
knew  Homer  by  heart,  recited  Pindar,  were 
at  home  with  Aeschylus,  and  petted  Horace 
— who  could  not  understand  Isaiah,  Moses, 
or  the  Royal  Poet  ...  so  far  superior  in 
original  force,  sublimity,  and  truth  to  na- 
ture." —  Works,  National  Edition,  vol.  13, 
pp.  571,  584,  592. 

Webster  was  as  familiar  with  the  Bible 
as  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  his  regular  habit  on  Sunday 
morning  to  gather  his  household  in  his  li- 
brary, and  after  reading  from  the  Bible  to 
speak  to  them  on  the  duties  of  life. 

At  a  dinner  in  New  York  City  some  one 
told  a  smutty  story.  Webster  scowled,  rose, 
stalked  out  and  went  to  his  hotel. 

Webster  visited  a  dying  friend  and  the 
widow  writes:   "When  able  to  command  his 

82 


voice,  Mr.  Webster  said,  'Let  us  pray.'  And 
kneeling  there,  beside  the  dying  and  the 
dead,  he  prayed  as  none  but  a  Christian 
can  pray." 

The  year  before  he  died  he  said:  "I  pro- 
fess to  be  a  Christian.  .  .  .  You  cannot  tell, 
John  Colby,  how  much  delight  it  gave  me 
to  hear  of  your  conversion.  What  a  wicked 
man  you  used  to  be!"  They  kneeled,  and 
Webster  offered  a  most  touching  prayer. 
"Nothing  can  convince  me  that  anything 
short  of  the  grace  of  Almighty  God  could 
make  such  a  change  as  I,  with  my  own  eyes 
"^  have  witnessed  in  the  life  of  John  Colby." 
"If  that  is  not  a  miracle,  what  is?" 

On  his  deathbed  the  great  orator  quoted 
the  poet: 

"The    pomp    of    heraldry,    the    pride    of 
power, 

And  all  that  beauty,  all  that  wealth 
e  er  gave, 
Alike  await  the  inevitable  hour; 

The  paths   of  glory  lead  but  to  the 
grave." 

After  some  silence  he  prayed: 

"Show   pity,   Lord.    O    Lord,   forgive; 
Let  a  repentant  sinner  live. 
Are  not  Thy  mercies  large  and  free? 
May  not  a  sinner  turn  to  Thee?" 

During  his  last  illness  he  said:  "The 
great  mystery  is  Jesus  Christ — the  Gospel. 
What  would  be  the  condition  of  any  of  us 
if  we  had  not  the  hope  of  immortality? 
What  ground  is  there  to  rest  upon  but  the 
Gospel?  .  .  .  Thank    God,    the    Gospel    of 

83 


Jesus  Christ  brought  life  and  immortality  to 
light." 

After  writing  his  will,  which  is  charged 
with  religious  feeling,  he  said:  "I  thank 
God  for  strength  to  perform  a  sensible  act," 
and  then  prayed,  among  other  things, 
"Heavenly  Father,  forgive  my  sins,  and  re- 
ceive me  to  Thyself  through  Christ  Jesus." 
He  ended:  "And  now  unto  God  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  praise  for 
evermore.  Peace  on  earth,  and  good  will 
toward  men.  That  is  the  happiness,  the 
essence — good  will  toward  men!" 
His  last  words  were:  "I  still  live!" 
The  epitaph  he  prepared  is  engraved  on 
his    monument    at    Marshfield;     it    reads: — 

Daniel  Webster, 
Born  January  18,  1782, 
Died  October  24,  1852. 

Lord,  I  believe.  Help  Thou  mine  unbe- 
lief. Philosophical  argument,  especially 
that  drawn  from  the  vastness  of  the  uni- 
verse with  the  apparent  insignificance  of 
this  globe,  has  sometimes  shaken  my  reason 
for  the  faith  which  is  in  me;  but  my  heart 
has  always  assured  me  and  reassured  me 
that  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  must  be  a 
Divine  Reality.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
cannot  be  a  mere  human  production.  This 
belief  enters  into  the  very  depth  of  my  con- 
science. The  whole  history  of  man  proves 
it. 


84 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


Hutlj^r,  His  Life  and  His  Labor  for 
the  Plain  People.  143  illustrations,  300 
pages.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

"In  parts  sensational.  Quite  different 
from  any  other.  Original.  Unique  in  pur- 
pose, arrangement,  style,  quotations,  illus- 
trations; so  whimsical,  so  sarcastic,  so 
utterly  unusual,  Dallmannesque.  Refresh- 
ing. Breezy.  Vivid.  Gripping.  Short  and 
snappy.  Splendid.  Surprises  after  sur- 
prises keep  us  awaiting  other  surprises. 
Most  popular  book  of  a  very  popular  au- 
thor. Written  in  the  American  tongue  for 
the  people  living  now.  History  more  in- 
teresting than  fiction.  Yet  scholars  will  en- 
joy it.  The  prettiest  and  most  interesting 
book  of  the  jubilee  year." 


Luther  the  Liberator  contains  the  most 
complete  collection  of  valuable  quotations 
concerning  Luther  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted. One  thing  that  makes  this  col- 
lection especially  valuable  is  the  fact  that 
these  quotations  are  classified  under  a  very 
complete  list  of  topics." — American  Luth- 
eran Survey,  Dec.  26,  1917. 


S5 


3^fi«H— His  Words  and  His  Works,  20  Art 
Plates  in  Colors,  after  Dudley,  195  Halftones, 
and  2  maps  of  Palestine.  IX  and  481  pages. 
Size  7^x10.  Beautifully  bound.  Gilt  top. 
$3-30. 

UNITED  LUTHERAN— Most  beautiful 
book  of  its  kind  we  have  ever  seen. 

THEO.  QUARTALSCHRIFT— A  master- 
piece; orthodox;  gripping;  fascinating;  vivid; 
crisp.  A  precious  gift  of  God,  which  Christen- 
dom ought  to  hail  with  joy  and  spread  with 
zeal. 

DER  LUTHERANER— Earnest  Bible  read- 
ers will  be  delighted.  Even  the  thoughtless 
will  be  spurred  on  to  read,  and  read  on. 
Pithy,  popular  English.  Sentences  short,  say 
much  in  few  words,  in  their  sureness  of  aim 
and  hitting  remind  one  of  the  crack  of  a 
repeating    rifile.      Above    all,    very    interesting. 

CHRISTIAN  HERALD,  N.  Y.— A  rarely 
beautiful  book.  Fascinating  form,  skillful 
manner;  enjoyable  and  helpful  to  young  and 
old. 

THEOL.  QUARTERLY— Some  of  the  best 
that  learning  and  art.  piety  and  reverence 
could  produce.  Will  be  read  with  unflagging 
interest  and,  what  is  more,  with  great  spiritual 
profit. 


86 


(ZIl|p  2^pn  OIommaitbmrtttH. 

Third  Edition.     335  Pages.    $1.00. 

LUTHERAN     CHURCH     REVIEW— 

Style  vigorous  and  racy.     Not  a  dull  line. 
Masterly. 


300  Pages.     Cloth,   $1.10. 

THEOL.  QUARTALSCHRIFT— Typically 
American.  Sound  to  the  core.  Thoroughly 
evangelical.  Diction  simple,  yet  varied.  Brief 
and  terse,  plastic,  ever  concrete,  seasoned  with 
apt  illustrations  and  examples,  a  refreshing 
directness.  Popular  in  the  good  sense  of  the 
word.  Never  abstract,  never  tedious.  Origi- 
nal everywhere. 


PortraitH  of  ^tans. 

Cloth,  227  Pages.     $1.25. 

DER  LUTHERANER— Everybody  can 
draw  information,  exhortation,  and  joy  from 
these  sermons  with  their  doctrinal  yet  crisp, 
terse,  powerful  sentences. 


271   Pages.    $1.25. 

P.  L.,  IN  LUTH.  KIRCHENBLATT— 
Every  word  in  this  prayer  that  is  at  all  note- 
worthy is  illuminated  from  all  sides.  The 
various  discussions  are  short  and  terse,  but 
they  unfold  a  deep  treasure  of  thought.  The 
language  is  noble  and  powerful. 

87 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


Luther's  Catechism.   14th  Edition 10c 

Why  I  am  a  Lutheran.  11th  Edition. . .  .05c 
Christian  Science  Unchristian.     5th  Ed. 05c 

Mission  Work.     4th  Edition 05c 

What  is  Christianity?     3d  Edition 05c 

Temperance.     2d  Edition 05c 

Infant  Baptism.     6th  Edition 05c 

Christian  Giving  No.  2.  3d  Thousand.  .10c 
Why  I  Believe  the  Bible.  2d  Edition. .  .15c 
What  Think  Ye  of  Christ?     2d  Edition. 05c 

The  Real  Presence 10c 

The  Dance.     5th  Edition 05c 

The  Theater.     2d  Edition 05c 

Opinions  on  Secret  Societies.     2d  Ed... 05c 

Freemasonry.     3d  Edition 05c 

Oddfellowship.     2d  Edition 05c 

The  Congregational  Meeting .05c 

Church-going.    4th  Edition 05c 

John  Hus 25c 

Wm.  Tyndale,  Translator  English  Bible  25c 
Patrick  Hamilton,  First  Scotch  Lutheran  25c 

The  Pope  in  Politics.     2d  Edition 05c 

Church  and  State.     2d  Edition 05c 

Why  Protestant,  not  Roman  Catholic . . .  05c 

Principles  of  Protestantism 02c 

Why  Lutheran,  not  7  Day  Advent.  2d  Ed.  05c 

Why  the  Name  "Lutheran."    2d  Ed 05c 

John  Lord's  Luther , 05c 

Forgiveness  of  Sins 05c 

88 


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